Local Economies Hooked on Tourism
Bound by a veritable smorgasbord of mandated social programs and commitments to a powerful union work force, the cost of governing as we know it can only increase. The financial burden for all this bureaucracy falls at the feet of the commercial arena and private-sector work force.
The popular school of thought has led most governing bodies to allow both of these areas to continually grow to maintain an ever-increasing base from which to collect taxes. Although this process has helped keep government affordable to the individuals funding it, it is no longer available in all but two of Ventura County’s cities.
With the imposition of Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) restrictions, half of the equation has been essentially eliminated: the increasing residential work force. Although in-fill and increased-density development may delay the inevitable for a while, the lack of more residents cannot help but affect the commercial arena and the government bodies for which it collects taxes.
A stagnated resident / consumer resource pool makes it so difficult for business owners to ignore the allure of catering to outsiders that many will be forced to turn away from serving locals and simply play the hand voters dealt them. Two areas of the county have already lived under this gun of severely restricted growth. The public officials of both have found themselves having to rely more on tourism to make financial ends meet. Ventura is a relative newcomer to the tourism trap. Ojai has been at it for so long that it couldn’t escape the havoc it wreaks if it wanted to.
If public officials from elsewhere in Ventura County learn anything from these areas, it would be that what is good for the city is not necessarily good for people it serves. Attracting ever-more overnight visitors may keep bed-tax revenues coming in but there are no assurances that these visitors will spend any money at local businesses.
Life for these business owners gets worse when their cities have to increase bed taxes to compensate for downturns in sales- and property-tax revenues. They find themselves staring at tourists with less money to spend and realize just how difficult it is to be in direct competition with the people who shuffle the tourism-money deck.
Meanwhile, residents of these areas wonder why their streets and sidewalks have become so crowded. And now that their cities have become little more than malls without a roof, they wonder why the products they need--if they can be found there at all--cost so much less down the road.
Because public officials lack the courage to find ways to shrink the governments they control, it’s probably a good idea for them to consult planning gurus about the future. But when the so-called visionaries suggest that Ventura County’s salvation lies in more tourism, these civic leaders should keep in mind the plight of those who already live and work throughout the county.
Revenue generated through tourism makes for terrific icing, but using it for the cake itself is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
BRUCE ROLAND, Ojai
