CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Commissioners once again are urging county residents to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations.
“It went very quickly from waiting lists to essentially a walk-in situation, even with everybody being eligible,” said Commissioner Dave Glass on Tuesday.
“… We all feel this vaccination is very, very important for a variety of reasons. There’s the health side, there’s this is the quickest way to get our economy open side.
“The quicker we can get our state and our county vaccinated, the quicker we can put all this behind us and get things rocking and rolling again.”
As such, Glass said the commissioners are encouraging residents to receive their COVID-19 vaccination through a community outreach campaign in local media.
The county approved advertising contracts with the following outlets: WJAC-TV, Comcast Spotlight and Blue Moon Marketing (direct mail piece).
Commissioner John A. Sobel, board chairman, noted the outreach campaign will be paid for with American Rescue Act Funds, once received.
Also, on Tuesday, the commissioners voted to advertise the county’s consideration of amending the current hotel tax ordinance to increase hotel tax charged from 3 to 5 percent.
Sobel said they’d been requested to consider increasing the county’s hotel tax at their last board meeting by the Clearfield County Recreation & Tourism Authority.
“We indicated we would take it under advisement,” Sobel explained, “and since then, the commissioners have had informal discussions.
“It’s our thought that … we shouldn’t let that request just go. We should decide today whether or not to take a vote to amend the hotel tax ordinance.”
In addition, he said the commissioners have also discussed the possibility of allocating American Rescue Act Funds to the CCRTA, once the county receives them.
Sobel said the CCRTA has had an effective local grant program, but unfortunately hasn’t been able to award funds this past year due to their lack of income from the pandemic.
Glass said he was OK with the county’s consideration of an increase in the hotel tax, and suggested that if the change is made, that its effective date be Oct. 1, 2021.
By having the change start with the fourth quarter, he said it will give area hotels several months to prepare for its implementation.
Once the county receives its American Rescue Act Funds, Glass said he was also interested in discussing with CCRTA about possibly allocating it a portion of said funds.
“Then, they could restart the grant program,” he said, “and, we should bring this up again next month because – by statute – I think we have to have the funds by then.”
Commissioner Tony Scotto is the county’s representative on the CCRTA board, and he said it hasn’t been able to support multi-day events that generate hotel stays.
“Those events need the funds,” he said. “It’s very important for us to help out.” Sobel believed funding recreation/tourism was a permitted use under the act.
The commissioners concluded their discussion by authorizing their solicitor to draft an amended hotel tax ordinance for their consideration.
Scotto noted that many counties, which surround Clearfield, have already amended their hotel tax ordinances to charge 5 percent. “We’re one of the only counties still at 3 percent.”
The commissioners will be asked to consider the amended hotel tax ordinance at a future board meeting.
