business

Herald & Lantern 21 October 81

33

Tourism Worth Revealed

Game Law Change Supported

WILDWOOD - Republican First District Assembly Candidate 6uy F. Muziani, mayor of the City of Wildwood, has revealed information long awaited concerning sales tax revenues j>aid to the

Total 1980'- $119,381,437;

1979 - $107,028,026

It is obvious that with only these incomplete figures as a basis of analysis of what the tourism industry generates by way of tourism dollars for the

state by the tourism tn-.* state, the governor and

Legislature perpetrated an Injustice to the entire tourism economy by reducing the state promotion budget for Uiis coming year from l!3 million to 1.1 million,and cut the staff r over 50 percent, Muziani

said.

FOR OVER 10 years the .tourism industry, with-the N.J. TravelVand Resort Association- in the forefront, has asked for a sales tax breakdown and have been told it Was im-

possible to do.

It would appear that the state is receiving directly from the tourism industry

dustry.

The state received over 119 million dollars in sales tax revenues from only a portion of the tourism indust^, an increase of 12 million over 1979, as reported in a letter to Donald M. O’Brien, executive vice president. N.J. Hotel and Motel Association, signed by Dr. Richard

Guhl, tax analyst.

THE FIGURES DO NOT take into account#!! of the other touflsjn services, such as camping, gas stations, resdH retail shops and stores, fishing and boating, various recreation vehicle rentals-’and many

more. The figures also do „ . . w

not include casinos and Bank-by-rhone atiniversarv

hotel restaurants., J

These sales tax figures ‘ATLANTIC CITY — One dustry standards, we have

also do not include income r arK , j^oqo transacUxes gasoline taxes, li- tions have s j nce quor taxes, cigarette taxes, \ Q Uar rf' n tg e Bank customers

stopped writing checks, addressing envelopes and licking stamps to pay bills and started letting George Bank-by-Phone do the

Work.

well pver 200 million ’in taxes yearly, putting the industry in the 5 to 7 billion dollar category without casino revenue, Muziani

went, on.

THE TOURISM industry in the state has never received the recognition attention and financial con siderations that it rightful ly has earned, MuSiani said. New Jersey’s No. 1 Industry deserves a Depart ment of Tourism, headed by fc Commissioner of Tourism with a budget allocation to meet the needs of the industry, he

continued.

. Any time you can spend a dollar on promotion and that industry returns $200 to the treasury, an administration should use common sense and understand what an investment this is, and do more, Mu-

ziarti concluded.

Legislation recently signed into law by acting governor Sen. Joseph Merlino is seen by the Industry as the first step toward revitalizing the state’s $50 million a year amusement game industry. According to the N.J. Amusement Assn., which cited the $50 million figure, the acting governOt’s action authorized- the appearance on the Nov. 3 ballot of a statewide question relating to

amusement games. If approved by the voters who rejected an earlier attempt to increase.prizes, the state Amusement . Games Control , commissioner could establish limits on the cost of prizes awarded and prices for amusement games following a. public hearing and 'subject to legislative oversight consideration. AMUSEMENT GAMES are those games of skill and chance — such asking

Burial Allowance Restricted

which are all connected with the tourism industry. In addition they do not include consideration of Parkway, Expressway, local bridges or Turnpike

Tolls.

Sales Tax Collections Tourism Area — Hotel/Motels. 1980 - $17,403,525; ' 1979 $14,242,611; * Restaurants and Taversn - 1980 - 90.093.543; 1979 - 81,922,300; Amusements and Attractions - 10,519.022; 1979 - 9.611,951; Non-Commuter Transportations — 1,365,377; 1979 - 1,251,164^-

experienced impressive • customer acceptance of

this service."

Guarantee Bank is the only Southern New Jersey Bank to offer Bank-by-Phone, a technologically advanced service credited with taking the drudgery

out of bill-paying.

•WE ARE, VERY pleased with customer response to Bank-by-Phone," reported Guarantee president and chairman Joseph F. Bradway Jr. in noting the anniversary. "By in-

Guarantee Bank currently has 3,000 merchants and individuals as payees in its Bank-by-Phone system. Unlike similar services offered by banks in other areas, George Bank-by-Phone can be programmed

to pay anyone.

Besides monthly bill paying, Bank-by-Phone can make automatic payments for standing obligations like auto loans and mortgages. Bank customers can also use the serviefe to transfer funds between accoaunts and to obtain quick balance information

NEWARK - James R. Purdy, director of the regional office of the Veterans Administration, announced today that a significant change in law has occurred which will reduce the number of veterans having potential entitlement to a veterans Administration burial allowance. This y allowance currently totals $300 for an eligible veteran whose death was not servicerelated. Thfe change in the law, which was passed by the 97th Congress some time ago and which took effect Oct. 1, 1981, permits payment of burial allowance only for those deceased veterans who were entitled to Veterans Administration disability pension or compensation payments at the

time of death, t>r who died in a Veterans Administraitio'h medical center after being properly admitted. • PRIOR TO THE CHANGE in law. vete/ans needed only honorable wartime service to have basic entitlement to the benefit To be eligible under thenew • standards, veterans not hospitalized in a Veterans Administration facility-at the time of death must have been entitled to Veterans Administration disability payments. This will hold true regardless the length or character of a veteran’s- military service.

tosses and wheels of fortune — found in amuse ment parks and along boardwalks from Keansbtirg to Cape May The owners and operators of the games have for the past several years sought a change in the law to enable them to award better prizes and adjust the prices of some games without going through the unwieldy and expensive process of public referendum GAME OPERATORS arc prohibited from awarding any prizes worth more than $13.50 wholesale, Of fromsetting the price of a game above 25 cents under the current law "Jo. 1959 you could give away a pretty nic<? Teddy bear / for ‘ $13.50,’' says Michael Redpath, executive director of the association. He adds that better and more, alluring prizes, such as brand names toasters and radios, now are well beyond the reach of the game operators. * . Should the industry go under. Redpath says, "the state will lose nearly $3 million in fees ant* taxes and approximately 10.000 suthmer jobs

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