The town of Geddes is floating the idea of imposing a $1 surcharge on every Lakeview Amphitheater ticket sold, to cover expenses created by visitors to the new music venue on Onondaga Lake.
Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon says he does not dismiss the idea out of hand.
“I’m willing to have conversations.”
But McMahon quickly adds that the town would have to demonstrate how the amphitheater has created a financial burden. So far town officials have expressed concerns about costs related to visitors from a public safety angle.
“Just because you have 70 people who had a couple too many cocktails at a concert, get appearance tickets, that creates revenue for the town and you have judges there no matter what, so I don’t know if the town has demonstrated if they’ve really had any cost.”
McMahon also says the legality of a tax on tickets is not clear, although there is also the possibility of imposing some kind of community hosting fee, if need be.
He also notes that the town has benefited from millions of state and local dollars invested the community. He also says that businesses have seen a boost from concert-goers, which will lead to higher assessments, and other businesses setting up shop in the vicinity.
