Schools look to tax Knoebel's rides

Sounds like they might have gotten some not so sound legal advice. Almost all amusement rides can be considered portable. The Phoenix was brought in in pieces and assembled on site. The only thing that could be considered permanent would be the buildings themselves,such as the carousel pavilion, dark ride building,etc.By themselves they are not worth all that much.
If they doubt the portability of the rides, they haven't done their research. Most places consider rides machines and are treated as such, not as real estate.

Ah the famous rollercoaster tax. Geeeeeezzzze, if someone is making money our government always has to be in on it. Not that they rip us off...oh wait they do.

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"Welcome to Millennium Force"

Hey, taxes pay for just about everything around us so don;t complain. After, without taxes, there would be no roads, schools, water, sewer, electricity in some areas, food for some, emergency servives, ect... Anywhay, taxing Knobles is still an iffy proposition, though I doubt that the Knobles's would adverse to helping the local schools in some way.

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Where would we be without the rumor mill?

School funding is important, and there isn't enough of it. However, I think they're really out there on this one. $50K isn't worth the time and energy to pursue it when the rides are clearly not real estate.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I Mean, WOW! its just stupid why would they tax the rides then they are just taxing the patrons again so why don't they just raise the taxes or focus more on education.





*** This post was edited by duke on 10/23/2000. ***

Most municipalites that have attractions within their jurisdiction very quickly institute an amusement tax. West Mifflin has one. I remember for years you had to buy seperate tax tickets as well as ride and refreshment tickets at Kennywood.
When GA was built in Gurnee one was in place before the park even opened.

I think the main reason the school is disputing this is that their area is mainly farmland and no big cities to get their tax money from. Actually the biggest attraction in the area is Knoebels so I can see why everyone wants a piece of them. I think it would be funny if Knoebels would move the rides they could out of Columbia County.

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Parks Hit For 2000! PKD, BGW,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA,GAdv,SFNE,LC,GE,QP,CDP,LP,KG,SFO,WG,GE,KW,IW,WL,

In most places, school districts can only levy taxes on property. There are exceptions (I think Indiana might be one), but for the most part property tax is all they've got.

Municipalities are different, in that they can text a broad variety of things depending on their state's charter.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

This whole incident is BS, since the road that divides the park is a STATE road, and as a private company, Knoebels pays for full use of utilites such as water and electric. What does the school district offer in services? The same problem exists at Dorney and Conneaut Lake. Parks are divided by municipalites. The only park that is safe is Hersheypark. All trust funds and such. Nobody argues. This topis is up on the House floor in Harrisburg.