Mayor Libby Fay and Trustees,
The Buena Vista Chamber Board of Directors opposes the Kroger Tax break. We believe it would give an unfair advantage to a large corporation over the wellbeing, and possible demise, of several small businesses that are operating in our community: grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, liquor stores, pharmacies, coffee shops, and other small businesses that cannot compete with a subsidized, large corporation. Our Main Street is comprised mostly of the types of businesses that would be most affected.
The Chamber Board is in favor of a new City Market facility without the sales tax give away or expanded departments that compete further with our Main Street businesses. City Market may choose to use that refunded sales tax to lower prices below market value that our existing businesses can’t compete with.
Additionally, of great concern is the loss of sales tax to the Town of Buena Vista. That loss is real, with purchasing being moved away from small businesses that pay their sales tax, all those purchases would not only be removed from small business revenues but the sales tax from those purchases would be reduced by as much as 75%.
Chamber Board opposition comes not only from the concerns expressed from our members, but from overwhelming input that Buena Vista is a great place to live and visit because of its small-town atmosphere. We do not want to see our fantastic small businesses suffer because of a national company based in Ohio, receiving benefits that our local small businesses do not.
It’s a struggle to provide retail and services in a very small town but our Owners make that struggle to live in BV, we stand with them in asking the BV Board of Trustees to stand with them also.
Thank you for your consideration,
The BV Chamber Board
Buen Vista Chamber of Commerce is a member-owned, not-for-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors:
