County taxes park campground

To the editor: My name is Walt Toomer and I operate Dingmans Campground in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. As you may be aware, my business is one of the many businesses involved in the property tax debate with Pike County. After the hearings before the Pike County Commissioners recently, it is apparent that my business is one of the primary targets for the Pike County Commissioners, if not the primary target. The article “Showdown Looms Over Taxation of NPS Renters” in the Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 edition of the Pike County Dispatch made the “opinions” of the Pike County Commissioners crystal clear. They believe the businesses operating in the park have an “unfair advantage” over other businesses outside the park. I am writing to communicate the facts about operating a business on federal land. Here is the simple truth about the Pike County Commissioner’s chief argument… there is no advantage to operating a business on federal land! All of the business people inside the park communicated this to the Pike County Commissioners at their hearing, but the Commissioners did not seem interested in listening. Their minds were made up long before we all walked into that meeting room. I will start with the obvious difference between park business and other businesses. They own the properties they operate on, and pay the appropriate property taxes to Pike County — Hello? I own no real property in Pike County. I hope your readers can see through the political spin and understand this fundamental fact. Why should I pay Pike County property taxes when I own no property in Pike County? I operate Dingmans Campground under a concessions contract with the National Park Service. My contract and all of my financial statements are public information and can be obtained from the park service with a simple Freedom of Information Act request by any citizen. I hide nothing here. Here is a short summary of the contractual limitations on my business. I am price controlled. I must justify all of my rates and retail prices to the park service annually. I can’t dig a hole without a park service archeologist here. I can’t cut a tree down. I can’t plant non-native flowers in the ground. I can’t build anything without prior park service approval. I can’t use herbicides or pesticides without prior approval. All of my marketing and literature must be approved by the park service . I can’t advertise on billboards. My customers can’t consume or possess alcohol on the campground property. I must pay 4% of my gross revenue to the park service , regardless of profits. I must make mandatory improvements, regardless of profits. Shall I continue? Read my contract, and see for yourself. The other business people who occupy historic structures in the park can’t even apply paint or change a light fixture without a blessing from the park service . Does anyone see any “unfair business advantages” here? The Pike County Commissioners appear to speak factually about the contents of my park service contract. Prior to the hearing, they have never even asked to see my contract! How do they speak factually about the content of a document they have never seen? During the hearing, Harry Forbes, the Chairman of the Pike County Commissioners, actually compared my business to Kittatinny Canoes River Beach Campground! This is just unbelievable. Mr. Forbes needs to learn to keep the apples in one basket and the oranges in another, if he can tell the difference through his politically colored glasses. There are two similarities between my business and Kittatinny River Beach Campground… we both rent campsites and canoes. All realistic and practical comparisons stop there. What do you think Kittatinny Canoes would do if they had to pay 4% of their gross revenue to Pike County in place of property taxes? I am willing to bet that 4% of Kittatinny Canoe’s revenue is more money than I have grossed since opening this campground. Also, the park service approached Kittatinny Canoes about running Dingmans Campground when it became vacant, and they wanted nothing to do with it because of the contractual restrictions on the business. What about Kittatinny Canoe’s commercial lease down there at the Dingmans Bridge? Are the Pike County Commissioners going to tax Kittatinny Canoes on their commercial lease interest there? Is that a Forbes / Caridi campaign poster on the lawn at River Beach? You don’t need a degree in Rocket Science to see where this one is coming from. From a business perspective, a flat tax is much more advantageous than a percentage tax. Everyone knows this from the painful process of filing personal income tax every April. The more you make, the more you pay! As a business grows outside the park, the flat tax remains close to the same. For me, with a 4% fee to the park service , as my business grows, my liability to the park service grows also. If I triple my revenue, my fee triples. For someone paying say $10,000 a year in property tax, if their business triples its revenue, they just get more profit, because the fixed property tax expense remains the same. Yes, I know property taxes keep going up. My point is that property taxes are not tied to a business’s revenue! This is an advantage for the private business owners outside the park and a disadvantage to me, operating a business with a 4% park service concessions fee. The more I make, the more I pay to the park service ! If there is dissatisfaction among the Pike County Commissioners and the people of Pike County with the PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) that they accept every year from the federal government (justified dissatisfaction), then start pressuring their federal representatives to get the PILOT payments increased for Pike County! Don’t go after the small business people who have no control over that federal law. The Pike County Commissioners and the Pike County Solicitor, Mr. Tom Farley, are intent on disregarding federal laws applicable to the taxation of federal property. I have no political party motivations here, as I am an independent voter. I grew up on the edge of the park in Montague, NJ. I understood the limitations of the contract I signed. We are here to make money, but we have not made any yet. I am deeply committed to the mission of the park service and the park. We service the public and enhance their enjoyment of this spectacular valley. My family is happy here. My disagreement with the Pike County Commissioners will most likely be decided in State or Federal court. I just want the residents of Pike County to know how their elected officials go about the business of representing their interests. Walter D. Toomer Dingmans Campground