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From YouTube: Aiken This Week - January 25, 2016 : Accommodations Tax
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A
Welcome
to
Aiken
this
week,
I
memory
Langston
well
as
you
can
see,
we're
on
stage
today
the
beautiful
stage
of
the
Aiken
community
Playhouse
and
today
we're
going
to
be
talking,
accommodations
taxes
and
how
those
funds
help
to
promote
some
wonderful
festival,
events
and
other
programs
in
our
city,
some
so
pleased
to
be
joined
today
by
Peggy
penllyn,
who
is
the
chairman
of
the
Aiken,
a
Tax
Committee
and
Ginny
Burkhardt?
Who
is
the
tourism
supervisor
for
the
city
of
Aiken?
A
B
They
pay
taxes
and
three
percent
of
the
taxes
that
they
pay
goes
back
to
the
city
for
this
program
called
the
accommodations
tax
program
and
when
we
receive
those
funds,
sixty-five
percent
of
those
funds
go
back
directly
to
support
activities
and
events
that
are
put
on
within
the
city
that
have
the
goal
and
the
mission
to
attract
more
visitors
to
akin
to
make
Aiken
a
visitor's
destination
one.
So
again,
all
of
the
funds
are
paid
by
out-of-town
guests.
You
know
this
is
not
to
be
compute
confused
with
the
hospitality
tax
or
anything
like
this.
B
B
A
C
Of
the
members
of
the
accommodations
tax
committee
are
asked
to
serve
by
a
city
council
member
and
in
my
case
it
was
mayor,
Cavanaugh,
so
I
came
in
as
a
member
of
the
committee.
Sam
herb
was
the
chair
and
a
few
years
after
that,
when
Sam
stepped
down.
Some
of
my
dear
committee
members
asked
me
to
chair
the
committee
and
I
am
now
in
my
second
term.
So
it's
been
about
five
years.
Okay,.
C
Organization
is
eligible
to
apply.
They
need
to
be
either
a
nonprofit
organization
or
a
government
body
government
entity.
If
they
are
not
501c3
India
montanari
corporation,
they
can
affiliate
with
one.
We
have
several
groups
like
the
Bluegrass
Festival
and
they
partner
with
a
charity
and
the
funds
go
to
the
charity.
Most
of
the
people
that
do
this
are
doing
it
on
a
volunteer
basis,
and
I
want
to
mention
and
I'll
name
the
members
of
my
committee
at
a
later
time,
but
we're
all
volunteers.
Yes,.
B
Absolutely,
and
with
you
know
she
mentioned
who
can
apply,
are
those
nonprofits
government
entities,
but
they
also
have
to
be
doing
something
they
have
to
be
doing
putting
on
an
event
either
a
one
time
or
you
know
continuous
event.
That's
going
to
promote
akin
as
a
tourist
attraction.
That's
going
to
draw
people
to
visit
again
and
the.
C
One
thing
that
we
didn't
mention
that
I
think
is
really
important
if
it
is
just
a
downtown
festival
and
it
is
not
anticipate
that
it
will
bring
in
anyone
from
out
of
town
they're,
not
eligible.
Okay,
the
dollars
that
are
allocated
are
for
marketing
the
events
to
people
at
least
50
miles
away.
Okay,.
A
C
Right,
a
tourist
is
considered
someone
who
comes
from
50
miles
away
correct,
and
we
do
also
benefit
from
people
who
come
maybe
from
Augusta,
and
they
do
spend
money
in
our
shops
and
restaurants,
so
they're
tourists
as
well,
but
as
far
as
these
dollars
are
concerned,
it's
for
marketing
50
miles
away,
at
least,
and
it's
not
just
advertising.
It's
also
websites
right.
Some
of
these
organizations
have
really
done
great
jobs
through
their.
B
A
B
So
when
a
group
wants
to
apply
all
of
this
information
is
online
at
the
city
of
a
keg
of
saudi
vacant,
FCC
gov
website
and
there's
only
two.
These
evaluation
factors,
as
well
as
the
application
and
kind
of
everything
somebody
would
need
to
know
who's
interested
in
applying.
But
what
they're
judged
by
is
you
know
how
they
completed
their
application
and
you
know,
did
they
fill
everything
in?
Did
they
give
us
enough
information
to
know
that
they're
really
going
to
be
able
to
put
on
an
excellent
event?
B
Did
they
describe
their
project?
Well,
do
they
have
partnerships
within
the
community?
You
know
we
see
a
lot
of
value
when
people
work
with
other
people
when
people
work
with
other
entities
and
get
other
entities
involved,
and
so
the
more
partnerships
they
have.
You
know
we
know
they're
going
to
be
successful
and
we
want
to
find
events
that
are
going
to
be
successful.
That
again
are
going
to
bring
this
tourists
to
Aiken.
We
look
at
their
funding
sources.
B
We,
you
know
they're
coming
to
us,
hoping
that
will
be
a
potential
funding
sources,
but
do
they
have
funds
for
the
rest
of
their
event
to
make
their
event
in
a
spectacular
and
to
pay
for
the
additional
things
they
need
to
pay
for?
Are
they
prepared
for
that?
We
look
at
their
attendance.
If
they've
done
this
in
the
past,
have
they
brought
out
of
town
visitors
and
is
this
an
event
that
was
you
know
well
attended?
Has
it
been
growing?
B
Do
we
see
that
it
looks
like
it's
going
to
continue
to
grow
and
again
will
it
bring
tourism?
Is
this
just
a
local
event
that
we
know
you
know?
Typically,
if
you
host
an
event
on
a
Wednesday
afternoon,
you're
probably
not
going
to
get
very
many
tourists,
but
if
it's
on
a
weekend-
and
you
are
marketing
and
it's
a
big
event-
you're
going
to
draw
more
people,
so
things
like
that,
we
also
a
part
of
the
application
is-
is
discussing
the
economic
impact.
You
know,
how
do
you
anticipate
that
this
will
impact
the
economy?
B
We
obviously
want
to
see
good
numbers
there.
We
want
to
see
that
this
will
draw
people
that,
when
they
come
they're
going
to
spend
money
at
hotels
at
restaurants,
dining
shopping.
All
of
that,
and
so
some
people
may
be
intimidated.
Thinking
about
this,
they
can
look
at
similar
events
that
have
been
done
in
other
cities
and
use
that
as
a
way
to
estimate
what
their
economic
impact
will
be,
or
if
they've
done
this
in
the
past,
they
can
of
course
use
their
numbers
from
the
previous
year
and
talk
to
people
who
attended.
B
We
really
encourage
surveys
and,
and
all
of
that
so
so
that's
a
big
part
of
it.
We
also
ask
when
they
apply.
They
have
to
turn
in
a
spreadsheet
that
has
their
marketing
plan,
so
we
want
to
see
that
they
have
a
plan
in
terms
of
marketing
and
have
a
general
idea
of
what
their
goals
are
and
how
they're
going
to
accomplish
those
goals
and
of
course,
sometimes
that
changes
and
we're
flexible
and
and
I
work
with
these
groups
throughout
the
year.
So
it's
not
just
apply
and
you're
done.
B
B
A
A
Well
and
I'm
sure
that
well
over
the
time
that
y'all
have
been
doing
this
and
you
see
you
know
what
works
and
what's
beneficial
and
planning
for
the
next
year
and
what
helps
the
folks
who
are
applying
and
having
the
measurables
and
making
sure
they
have
these
solid
plans
and
that
you
evaluate,
while
it
is
fresh
in
your
head,
is
a
very
important
part
of
this.
So
Jenni.
What
sorts
of
projects
have
received
funding
in
the
past
yeah.
B
You
know,
if
you
think
of
a
lot
of
the
the
events
that
make
a
chem,
so
special
most
of
those
have
received
at
least
at
one
time,
accommodations
tax
funds,
things
like
the
vacant
trials
and
citizens
park.
All
of
the
events
they
put
on
and
receives
funds
Aiken
performing
arts
group
receives
funds.
The
Etheridge
center
receives
funds,
Christmas
and
hope
lens
in
the
past
has
received
accommodations
tax
funds.
Aiken.
C
B
It's
been
really
fun
I've,
since
we
put
the
application
out
and
had
some
coverage
in
the
newspaper
I've
already
gotten.
Quite
a
few
calls
from
new
groups
who
are
interested
in
applying
the
Aiken,
home
and
garden
tour
is
interested
in
applying
and
and
I
think
can
really
grow
their
event
if
they
have
funds
to
market
further.
The
Audubon
Society
is
interested
in
doing
some
new
things
and
applying
for
funds
to
promote
what
they
have
and
draw
new
groups
and
the
southern
city.
Film
festival,
that's
a
new
event.
B
That's
going
to
be
I,
think
just
a
new
Aiken
signature
event
and
November
they
are
going
to
apply,
and
so
that's
an
event
that
will
be
a
premier
film
festival
that
will
be
in
aiken
for
an
entire
weekend
and
so
they're
planning
on
applying
and
and
are
reaching
out
for
other
partnerships.
You
know
like
we
talked
about
earlier
different
funding
opportunities
and
getting
involved
they're
also
doing
a
summer
film
series
at
citizens
park
this
summer.
Well,
there
would
be
shown
outdoor
films
on
some
big
screens
out
there,
so
so
yeah.
B
C
C
Committee
is
charged
with
the
difficult
task
of
making
recommendations
to
the
City
Council.
The
city
council
actually
allocates
the
funds,
we
make
recommendations
and
they
approve.
Typically,
they
approve
what
we
do,
but
we
have
a
very
hard
working
committee
and
I
would
like
to
tell
you
who
they
are
because
they
have
a
difficult
job.
I've
often
found
myself,
I'll
lead
the
meeting,
so
I
kind
of
have
an
easier
job
in
a
way,
but
I've
been
on
the
committee
and
I
know
what
they
have
to
do.
C
Oftentimes
we
r
there
and
there
is
a
complete
audience
full
of
people
who
need
funding
for
their
events.
It
is
typical
that
we
might
have
fifty
percent
of
the
funding.
Let's
say
we
have
three
hundred
thousand
dollars
worth
of
requests
and
150
thousand
dollars
worth
of
money
to
allocate
and
every
year
it's
different
right.
C
It
just
depends
on
how
much
money
we
collect
right,
so
you're
really
put
on
the
spot,
and
the
people
who
are
on
my
committee
are
Tina
McCarthy
from
the
Wilcox
Regina
bracket
from
the
hampton
inn,
Steve
Muller
from
rose
hill,
so
the
four
of
us
are
all
hotel
people
and
we
have
Juanita
Palmer,
who
represents
the
Arts
and
she
works
at
the
Etheridge
Center
Angela
key
is
a
member
at
large
and
Susan.
Victor
represents
the
downtown
retailer
effect
of
it
and
she
owns
nandina
home
InDesign.
She
has
a
little
different
perspective
than
we
do.
C
She
can
tell
us
if
she
experienced
an
increase
of
business
based
on
this
event,
because
we
do
fund
not
only
events,
but
we
also
find
Center
marketing
like
the
Center
for
the
Arts.
They
have
the
antiques
in
the
heart
of
Aiken
and
we
also
fund
their
marketing
for
the
year-round
operation
of
their
business.
Just
like
this,
a
pag,
the
Performing
Arts
in
order
to
market
their
shows,
we
provide
funding
to
them.
So
as.
B
Or
they
have
received
in
the
past
accommodations
tax
funds,
and
we
know
they
put
on
so
many
events
as
well
as
generally
promote
downtown,
so
it
certainly
falls
in
line
with
what
what
the
mission
of
the
accommodations
tax
committee
is
are
in
promoting
Aiken
as
a
tourist
destination.
So
so
you
know
we
don't
want
to
exclude
anybody
that
that
is
doing
that
already,
but
doesn't
have
one
main
event.
There's
there's
those
other
groups
that
can
receive
funds
as
well.
Well,.
A
And
I
can
only
imagine
that
that
would
be
so
hard
to
have
all
these
wonderful
requests
and
knowing
that
you're
you
have
to
will
it
down
and
I
think
it
is
just
I'm
so
glad
that
you
made
the
point
of
talking
about
what
sector
that
your
committee
is
comprised
of,
because
it
is
a
very
balanced
committee.
Knowing.
B
C
B
A
A
C
B
C
Tell
you,
and
especially
when
you
have
all
the
people
and
you're
having
to
do
the
math
right
there
in
front
of
them,
but
what
we
developed,
which
has
been
extremely
helpful,
is
this
matrix
form
it's
an
evaluation
matrix
so
as
each
presenter
they
have
about
five
minutes.
We
have
their
application,
of
course,
but
then
they
get
about
five
minutes
to
present
and.
B
C
As
they
present
our
committee
members
are
able
to
ask
them
questions
about
the
particular
application
and
then
as
we
as
soon
as
we
hear
the
presentation
we
go
through
and
basically
gray,
we
grade
it
and
we
have
X
amount
of
points
for
the
thoroughness
of
the
proposal.
We
have
so
many
points
for
partnerships
and
Ginni
mentioned
this
earlier,
but,
for
instance,
if
we
have,
for
instance,
the
Polo
the.
B
C
B
And
all
of
you
know
what
I
mentioned
earlier
when
you
asked
about
the
evaluation
factors
again,
these
are
all
online
and
are
attached
with
the
handbook
and
everything
and
and
those
evaluation
factors
are
exactly
what
this
matrix
is
is
based
off
of.
So
you
know,
if
you
are
applying,
there's
a
cheat
sheet,
you.
B
Got
everything
we're
going
to
judge
you
on?
You
know
we
want
to
be
as
as
transparent
as
possible.
We
want
to
be
as
fair
as
possible,
and
so
those
are
the
things
that
we
go
by
and
you
know
every
committee
member
who's
there
when
we
received
those
proposals
and
meet
with
them
gets
a
chance
to
fill
in
their
scores
and
we
compile
those
scores
and
use
those
kind
of
as
a
determination
and.
C
A
It
sounds
very
fair
and
equitable
and
we
can
make
sure
that
we
get
the
information
up
on
the
screen
today.
So
folks
can
have
all
that
good
information,
so
they
can
know
where
to
go
and
find
those
good
cheat
sheets
absolutely.
So,
if,
if
folks
are
interested
in
applying
Ginny,
they
would
come
directly
to
you
and
it
can
you
talk
about
somebody
we
may
be
applying
for
the
very
first
time,
and
maybe
it
is
an
intimidating
kind
of
situation
about
you.
I,
don't
know
anything
about
marketing.
B
Absolutely
you
know
I'm
happy
to
sit
down
and
talk
with
anybody
who's
interested
in
applying,
and
you
know
help
them
through
the
application.
Let
them
know
exactly
what
we
need.
We
want
them
to
be
successful
and
say:
I
have
some
tools,
you
know
some
marketing
tools
available
as
well,
and
you
know
if
they
want
to
know
who
you
know
who
I've
worked
with,
or
you
know
who
other
groups
may
have
had
success
with
in
terms
of
advertising.
You
know
I
can
give
them.
Those
recommendations
also
always
give
people
a
list
of
free
resources.
B
Some
groups
also
choose
to
work
with
a
marketing
agency
and
that's
certainly,
you
know
a
good
option
and,
and
so
there's
just
a
lot
of
ways,
we
can
help
groups
whether
they're,
you
know
marketing,
experts
or
or
never
have,
you
know,
put
an
add
together
before
that's
okay,
a
lot
of
people
have
great
ideas,
and
so
we
want
to
support
those.
That's
wonderful.
A
C
I
tell
you
one
of
the
most
powerful
programs
is
a
year-round
program
that
citizens
Park
puts
on
and
they
started
off
with
a
nine
thousand
dollar
award,
which
generated
390.
What
we
call
room
nights,
sir
and
then,
as
of
the
last
award,
they
received
14
thousand
dollars,
but
they
generated
almost
a
thousand
room
nights.
So
that's
triple
what
an
investment
right.
So
you
know
every
Hotel
yer
will
tell
you
that
during
the
one
thing
that
I
really
like
about
these
tournaments
is
that
they
come
at
times
when
we
are
not
busy.
C
It's
really
challenging
during
the
summer
months
and
aching
so
to
have
the
soccer
and
the
baseball
is
really
really
helpful
to
sell
your
whole
hotel
out
to
these
teams.
Sir
and
we've
had
good
results
with
it.
I
will
also
say
that
somebody
that
we're
really
proud
of
the
way
they've
handled
the
process
is
Nicky
bargello,
with
the
Aiken
trials
and
I
know
they're
having
their
growing
pains
at
this
moment
in
time.
But
Nikki
came
to
us
and
she
did
not
have
any
formal
marketing
program
in
place,
and
she
took
all
the
advice
that
we
gave.
A
C
Know
it's
really
hard,
sometimes
for
these
groups
to
do
the
surveys
that
our
committee
members
are
so
strong
about
they're
collecting
right.
So
she
did
those
surveys.
She
hired
a
marketing
firm,
the
South
company,
and
they
have
really
really
outdone
themselves
when
it
comes
to
the
marketing
piece
and
we're
very,
very
proud
of
Nikki
and
how
she
handled
it.
A
C
Success
is
the
Bluegrass
Festival,
the
Bluegrass
Festival
used
to
take
place
right
here
on
the
polo
field
and
they
had
about
2,000
participants
and
it
has
grown
so
much.
They
now
have
9,000
people
who
come
well
and
yes,
they
do
have
camping
at
their
site,
but
we
do
get
hotel
reservations
as
well,
so
the
bluegrass
festival
has
now
grown
to
9,000
people
and
Christian
has
done
a
really
good
job
marketing.
C
C
A
Know
I
think
it's
you
know
just
what
a
testament
to
to
this
program.
These
just
examples
that
you've
given
I
read
somewhere,
where
the
director
of
South
Carolina
recreation
park
and
tourism
department
at
the
state
level
estimated
last
year
predicted
last
year
that
2015
was
going
to
be
a
record
year
for
the
tourism
industry.
C
A
A
C
Y'all
have
had
a
wonderful
job.
I
would
like
to
say,
though,
that
I
was
really
thrilled
this
morning
to
find
out
that,
as
of
January,
the
second,
I
believe
it
was.
It
was
an
eight
it's
an
18
billion
dollar-a-year
economic
impact
of
tourism.
So
it's
an
18
billion
dollar
industry.
It's
a
clean
industry.
C
It
doesn't
put
any
pressure
on
our
schools,
it
doesn't
really
cost
us
as
taxpayers.
So,
just
like
jenny
said
in
the
beginning,
we
are
so
fortunate
to
live
in
a
beautiful
city
that
has
all
these
events
that
we
can
enjoy
right,
that
we
don't
really
have
to
pay
for
me.
Yes,
we
might
buy
ticket
to
the
steeplechase,
but
other
than
that.
There's
a
lot
of
out-of-town
money
that
has
gone
in
to
right
and
also
the
wonderful
people
who
put
these
events
on
I.
B
A
Are
we
to
live
in
this,
this
wonderful
city
that
supports
so
many
wonderful
facets
of
the
arts
and
tourism
and
just
some
great
opportunities
that
we
have?
Ladies?
They
can't
thank
you
enough
for
being
here
today
and
given
us
an
education
on
how
the
accommodations
tax
committee
works
and
how
the
program
works,
and
we
look
forward
to
lots
of
new
applications
and
submissions
in
the
upcoming
year.
Thanks
so
much
for
being
here,
and
we
thank
you
for
being
here
for
Aiken
this
week
and
we'll
see.