GARNETT — Rethink the problem, and find a new solution. That’s the advice tourism committee member Tom Emerson, Jr., had for Garnett city commissioners recently in the ongoing debate over a tax paid by people who use Garnett motels, the Anderson County Review reported. Emerson defended the tourism committee’s recommendation to raise the city’s guest tax, which is used to promote tourism and cultural events in the Garnett area. Mayor Greg Gwin had resisted the recommendation previously, saying he had a problem with organizations asking for more money every year, and the guest tax was never intended to be “life support” for the organizations. That annoyed Emerson, who said that such an attitude misses the whole point of the guest tax. Those groups use the guest tax to attract visitors from outside the county to cultural and tourism events and activities in the Garnett area and represent an investment that’s paid off, Emerson, who is a member of the Garnett Chamber Players community theater group, said. The commissioners chose to raise the guest tax at a rate lower than the tourism board’s recommendation.
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 6:30 a.m.
