CROUCH, Idaho — The City of Crouch is considering a local sales tax that would be added on top of Idaho's 6% sales tax for anyone visiting the small town.
The community in Garden Valley would join dozens of other towns and cities in Idaho that have a local option tax.
City council member Trevor Schiefelbein told KTVB that discussions about a local sales tax were prompted after residents and business owners approached him about it.
He said the conversations started from people trying to find ways to beautify and renovate the city, as well as possibly look into the idea of the city offering other services, like water and maybe even sewer.
"We came across this state, local option tax and that was kind of what we were thinking was we're kind of a destination city so we could easily justify figuring out a way to create revenue to help with that influx of tourists that use our roads and facilities that kind of put an extra strain or burden on the area," he said.
Under the current proposal, there would be an additional 3% tax on short-term rentals, like Airbnbs, and an additional 2% tax on drinks of alcohol.
"It's going to make it a lot safer and it's going to make it a lot more beautiful, getting some of the power lines out from overhead making it so people can walk from one business to another without worrying about getting run over," Schiefelbein said.
Schiefelbein said the difference wouldn't be massive for visitors but it would, over time, add up for the City of Crouch.
"It's not astronomical but over time especially with the influx of people that we get coming from the valley or out of state it could do a lot to help," he said.
If the proposal passed, the city hopes the local option tax would give the city enough funds to take the roads back from the county, fix potholes and install a walkway.
"Some people want to keep it the way it is, and it's hard how do you balance that with the growth, we can't stop people from moving here or visiting, so how do you take that and grow, it's really hard," he said.
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