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Chicago tops nation in tax burden for travelers
chicagotribune.com ^
| Sep 10, 2012
Posted on 09/11/2012 7:36:06 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Chicago tops nation in tax burden for travelers
For an average visit to downtown Chicago, a traveler will pay about $40.31 in combined taxes per day, a study finds. Three Florida cities tied for lowest cost.
By Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times
September 10, 2012
Chicago, the city that brought us deep-dish pizza, Oprah and "da Bears," is also home to the nation's highest tax burden for travelers.
The lowest taxes imposed on travelers can be found in the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.
Those are among the findings of new research by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Assn., a trade group for travel managers.
The foundation created a ranking of the destinations with the nation's highest and lowest tax burden on travelers by combining general sales taxes and taxes charged to travelers each day for car rentals, hotel stays and meals.
For an average visit to downtown Chicago, a traveler will pay about $40.31 in combined taxes per day, according to the research. Also high on the list of travel taxes were New York ($37.98), Boston ($34.83), Kansas City, Mo., ($34.58) and Seattle ($34.43), the study said.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: chicago; highest; taxes; travel
Besides the chance of being murdered in Chicago if you visit the murder capital your pockets will be empty after the Democrats tax you for that privilege.
1
posted on
09/11/2012 7:36:13 AM PDT
by
KeyLargo
To: KeyLargo
Come for the taxes, stay for your funeral.
2
posted on
09/11/2012 7:44:32 AM PDT
by
TurboZamboni
(Looting the future to bribe the present)
To: KeyLargo
The transient occupancy tax — and any other tax on travelers at a higher rate than the local sales tax — ought to be ruled unconstitutional. Nominal grounds: an interference with interstate commerce. Actual grounds: taxation without representation.
3
posted on
09/11/2012 7:48:42 AM PDT
by
omega4412
To: TurboZamboni
4
posted on
09/11/2012 7:49:34 AM PDT
by
agere_contra
(Vote ABO. Don't choose the Greater Evil and then boast about how principled you are)
To: KeyLargo
Yes, and add in the up-charges for Union hotels and you ahve an Event managers nightmare.
To: KeyLargo
Corruption doesn’t come cheap.
6
posted on
09/11/2012 7:52:13 AM PDT
by
freedumb2003
(obozo could bring back literal slavery with chains and still he will get 97+% of the black vote)
To: KeyLargo
It covers the 38% graft to the mob.
7
posted on
09/11/2012 7:54:37 AM PDT
by
bmwcyle
(Corollary - Electing the same person over and over and expecting a different outcome is insanity)
To: KeyLargo
One may wonder why Kansas City is there with much more attractive venues.
it is because KC is the dead center of the country (by air). That makes logistics really easy for putting together large gatherings of nationwide firms.
I spent almost a year in KC and it was the longest 10 years of my life.
8
posted on
09/11/2012 7:54:54 AM PDT
by
freedumb2003
(obozo could bring back literal slavery with chains and still he will get 97+% of the black vote)
To: KeyLargo
When we have to visit Chicago, we fill up in Indiana and buy a lunch to take into the city. We do our business and get out.
Our goal is usually to not spend any money there or get caught in gang related crossfire.
9
posted on
09/11/2012 8:00:54 AM PDT
by
Tenacious 1
(The Click-&-Paste Media exists & works in Utopia, riding unicorns & sniffing pixy dust.)
To: KeyLargo
Well, honestly the killings are almost entirely in the poor neighborhoods.
The downtown area is completely gentrified and safe.
My favorite Chicago tax is on the rental vehicles ANYWHERE in the upper half of the state. I have no idea how they pulled that one off.
My second favorite Chicago trick is how they sold off 20 years of street parking rights to a private company for billions of dollars, which they then blew thru in a year.
The private company then immediately doubled the rates and quadrupled+ the enforcement.
10
posted on
09/11/2012 8:02:05 AM PDT
by
swamp40
To: omega4412
The transient occupancy tax and any other tax on travelers at a higher rate than the local sales tax ought to be ruled unconstitutional. Nominal grounds: an interference with interstate commerce. Actual grounds: taxation without representation.
Nope.
It is not unconstitutional.
First, most of the items you might consider transient tazes (e.g. hotel and rental car taxes) apply equally to those who use the services who are in state, so it does not interfere with interstate commerce.
Second, the taxation without representation bit not only is NOT in the Constitution, but was never intended to apply to transient folks.
Third, if NH, for instance, scaled back their transient taxes, it would be impossible for them to meet numerous fed mandates, stay solvent, and still have neither an income nor a sales tax.
Fourth, such taxes have existed from the very beginning of the Republic.
States rights.
I live in Illinois, I would certainly know better than to schedule a convention in the greater Chicago area. Besides parking (I paid $60 total in parking last time I wen to Chicago ... and on a SUNDAY, when many cities have free street parking), the tiniest amenity requires an electrician or a carpenter from the Union or an exorbitant fee (this includes such luxuries as an electrical outlet or useable cell or wifi).
Word gets out, and more events get scheduled in Ft. Myers than in Chicago.
11
posted on
09/11/2012 8:05:35 AM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
("I have a new zest for life!"--Calvin from Las Vegas)
To: KeyLargo
12
posted on
09/11/2012 8:05:56 AM PDT
by
Huskrrrr
To: Tenacious 1
Rahm now is planning to have 800 ‘Urban campsites’ (stress homeless bums), on land that was formerly a very active business airport which was destroyed by the previous mayor of Chicago.
Northerly Island Reimagined As Urban Camping Destination
August 16, 2012 5:45 AM
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/16/plans-for-northerly-island-park-set-to-go-ahead/
Former Chicago Mayor Daley bulldozed the lakefront airport, which destroyed the chance of businesses continuing to have conventions in Chicago. Most large businesses now hold conventions only in business friendly cities.
Barack Obama and Bulldozer Democracy
Daley is perhaps Barack Obamas biggest and most important political patron as Jeremiah Wright is his most important religious leader and Rezko his biggest early financial backer. Obama got his start in politics as part of Daleys political machine. Obama was an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, while the Meigs saga was playing out. As a Daley acolyte, Obama never said a word about Daleys execrable trampling of the rights of Meigs Field, its businesses and users, and its supporters. To Daley/Obama, the only important thing is getting what they want. Oh, one more thing. Obamas wife, Michelle, was a member of the Chicago Planning Commission while the destruction of Meigs was being planned in secret. She, like Obama, refuses to talk about this criminal enterprise. If Obama is elected president, it seems a safe bet that the country can expect Bulldozer Politics to quickly spread nationwide. “
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=147&t=858324
13
posted on
09/11/2012 8:12:09 AM PDT
by
KeyLargo
To: swamp40
suntimes
BY FRANK MAIN AND FRAN SPIELMAN
Staff Reporters
Last Modified: Jun 22, 2011 06:55PM
At a mall outside Milwaukee, parents must escort their teens on weekends because of rampant shoplifting there.
In St. Louis, Las Vegas and Philadelphia, text-messaging flash mobs of youths have swooped into stores, stealing merchandise and running away.
And here in Chicago, shoplifting arrests of juveniles have jumped in the police district that includes the Magnificent Mile even though retail-theft arrests as a whole have fallen slightly.
Chicagos juvenile theft problem gained a high profile earlier this year when stores on North Michigan Avenue were repeatedly targeted by large groups of young shoplifters.
In January, 11 teens yanked clothes off the racks of The North Face, Filenes Basement and AX Armani Exchange and ran away with the loot, but were quickly arrested. Police believe they coordinated the attack through text messages. One young thief yelled Snatch! to initiate the shoplifting. Another shouted meet you on the Red Line!
In the Near North police district, which includes North Michigan Avenue, overall retail-theft arrests were down about 2 percent in the first four months of 2011, compared with the same period last year. But juvenile shoplifting arrests were up at least 10 percent, said Kenneth Angarone, commander of the district.
Most of those juveniles were taken to the police station for station adjustments and released to their parents, Angarone said.
Police said they have been monitoring social networking sites, boosted the presence of officers on North Michigan Avenue and worked with stores to improve security.
As a result, there have been fewer cases of flash mobs targeting Mag Mile stores in recent months, Angarone said. But smaller groups of two or three teens at a time are continuing to shoplift in the area, he said.
Is there an epidemic? No, said John C. Chikow, president of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association. Is there an issue? Absolutely.
Chikow said Chicagos shoplifting problem mimics whats going on in other big cities. Still, he said juvenile shoplifting attacks are periodic here.
Its not like every Friday and Saturday night kids are running into a store on the Avenue and taking stuff, he said. But yes, this still happens.
Chikow said he thinks such shoplifting is the latest form of thrill-seeking for juveniles. He pointed to one teen who was arrested for shoplifting recently. When his parents picked him up at the police station, they said they were perplexed because they had taken him to the same store to shop the previous week.
They said he didnt have a reason to steal anything, Chikow said.
Angarone said parents need to watch for their kids coming home with clothes or other merchandise they cannot afford. Parents also need to monitor their kids social-networking activities, he said.
This is a parental problem more than anything else, Angarone said.
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward includes the Mag Mile, said some of the shoplifting involves a highly coordinated attempt by adult criminals to recruit juveniles especially young women. Prosecutors said that is possible, but no adults have been charged in connection with juvenile flash-mob thefts. Still, officials are watching closely to see if any of the loot is winding up on eBay or secondhand stores. Reilly said the problem is not limited to the Magnificent Mile, but affects shopping centers across the city. Its the latest brand of retail theft, he said.
Copyright © 2012 — Sun-Times Media, LLC
14
posted on
09/11/2012 8:13:03 AM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
("I have a new zest for life!"--Calvin from Las Vegas)
To: KeyLargo
I'm surprised the FAA didn't come down on Daley for that.
I'm even more surprised he didn't sell it to a developer, which I thought was the original purpose of destroying it.
To: swamp40
“The downtown area is completely gentrified and safe.”
Oh really?
When was the last time that you visited downtown Chicago?
Chicago Muggings: 7 Teens Charged In ‘Mob-Style’ Attacks Downtown (VIDEO)
Posted: 06/11/2012 9:27 am Updated: 06/11/2012 6:06 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/chicago-muggings-8-charge_n_1586129.html
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile Is Now Mugger Mile
Janet Tavakoli emails her latest report from the epicenter of broke local governments and out of control roaming gangs. I am not in sync with all her recommend solutions, but the facts she presents are alarming:
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/06/chicagos-magnificent-mile-is-now-mugger.html
VIDEO:
http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2012/06/video-dangerous-black-mobs-infest.html
Loyola on alert after flash mob offenders strike McDonalds
Posted by emn2011 on April 12, 2011
http://loyolastudentdispatch.com/2011/04/12/flash-mob-offenders-strike-near-loyola-again/
Media Covers Up Violence Of Flash Mobs
August 2, 2012 11:40 AM
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/02/media-covers-up-violence-of-flash-mobs/
Chicago Gangs Go Wilding Amid Rising Gun Violence in Obamas Hometown
Aug 31, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
As the president preps for his Democratic Party convention coronation, homicides in his hometown the first three months of this year have spiked 60 percent over the same period in 2011, and gangs are preying on citizens in a phenomenon called wilding.
When the impulse hits them, the teens occasionally proceed east along Chicago Avenue, passing the tony Park Hyatt Hotel, an Anthropologie store, and a Ralph Lauren store that has an adjoining RL Grill, its outdoor tables adorned with white tablecloths and tended by white-aproned waiters. The coiffed and preened diners look up from such offerings as wild Alaskan sockeye salmon and goat-cheese tart.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/31/chicago-gangs-go-wilding-amid-rising-gun-violence-in-obama-s-hometown.html
16
posted on
09/11/2012 8:25:02 AM PDT
by
KeyLargo
To: KeyLargo
Yes, and add in the up-charges for Union hotels and you have an Event managers nightmare.
To: Calvin Locke
“I’m surprised the FAA didn’t come down on Daley for that.”
Oh, but yes. Mayor Daley sent the chump change bill to the taxpayers. Daley had a big laugh over that.
FAA fines Chicago over Meigs Field
By: Steve Daniels September 06, 2005
The Federal Aviation Administration is moving to fine the city of Chicago $33,000 in connection with the sudden closure of Meigs Field more than two years ago.
In an Aug. 31 letter to the city’s Department of Aviation, the FAA said it’s assessing the civil penalty because the city didn’t notify the FAA before demolishing the runways at Meigs Field. The city provided the federal agency with notification a short time afterwards, but by then the runways had been destroyed and the airport couldn’t be operated.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20050906/NEWS02/200017682?template=printart
18
posted on
09/11/2012 8:30:26 AM PDT
by
KeyLargo
To: KeyLargo
If the thieves don’t take your money the city will... gotta love cities run by democrats...
19
posted on
09/11/2012 11:23:31 AM PDT
by
GOPJ
(Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading - T. Jefferson)
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