Is it fair that not all Minehead businesses have to pay the BID tax?
Why are only businesses selected by the BID Directors to pay the BID tax, taking the financial weight for Minehead on their shoulders?
Is the BID map fair? Shouldn’t all Minehead businesses be paying or no-one, surely it would be fairer to share the financial burden?
Don't the B&Bs, Hotels and Holiday Lets just outside the BID area not paying the BID tax also 'benefit' from all the Visit Minehead advertising, events and other projects BID is paying for, but such a business caught within the BID map has to pay the BID tax? Does the Texaco garage on Townsend Road which does not pay the BID tax because it is just outside the BID area, not benefit from increased visitors?
If we are going to do BID, wouldn’t it just be fairer for all Minehead businesses to pay? Would the Council say we’re going to charge council tax for houses in that area of Minehead, but not that area?
Not that we want the BID tax, but if we did do BID, why not simply include all Minehead businesses and charge a smaller levy % rate? The BID Directors have the power to make this decision.
Surely if as BID says Minehead thrives from BID activities, then the whole local economy and all businesses thrive? Last year the Town Council even asked BID to look at including the Mart Road businesses, so they know it would be fairer to spread the financial burden across more businesses (or is it that the council wants to see more money?). How did this consultation process go with Mart Road businesses we wonder (if they even did it)?
Who pays the BID tax or not is another unfair thing about Minehead BID and they have conducted a failed re-ballot consultation process around this subject.
They shouldn’t have just been asking flowery stuff like “do you want Minehead to look nice”. They should have also been engaging with levy payers for their views about the levy % rate, which types / classes of businesses are included or not, what the RV threshold should be, where to draw the BID map boundary to include businesses or not, etc etc. As a levy payer, have they even bothered asking you for your views on any of this really important stuff?
So ask yourself, is the Minehead BID tax really a fair and equitable tax on Minehead businesses?
Even if you support BID, do you really think the way Minehead BID Directors have structured it makes it a fair local business tax? We don't wish the BID tax on anyone, but surely the fairest way would be to draw a BID map boundary line around Minehead and charge everyone less. Suggest this to BID and see what they say, because the way BID is set up now really isn’t fair on those selected businesses being taxed today.