BOSTON: Despite warnings from lawmakers "that private
revenue must be firmly in place for the project to be approved,"
MA Gov. William Weld vowed yesterday to veto any new hotel or
other taxes to pay for a stadium. Weld's comments come in
reaction to reports that the megaplex panel, who recently
returned from a tour of facilities around the country, may
reccommend a hike in hotel taxes to pay for a stadium. MA Senate
Ways and Means Chair Thomas Birmingham was "surprised": "No
other avenue immediately springs to mind. I had a signal that
perhaps there was a way (Weld) could go along with financing this
issue." Birmingham notes MA's hotel taxes "are relatively low"
and that hotels will be "primary" beneficiaries of a Megaplex
(Phil Primack, BOSTON HERALD, 4/12).
TAMPA BAY: The Pinellas County Hotel and Motel Assoc. voted
"unanimously against" a request by the Devil Rays to raise the
county's tourist-lodging tax to help pay for renovations to the
ThunderDome. The group claimed that "tourists shouldn't have to
subsidize profit-making improvements to the ThunderDome." Final
decision on the tax rests on a May 9 vote by county commissioners
(Carlos Moncada, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 4/12).
