Supreme Court upholds state tax on resorts

The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - A 9-year-old sales tax aimed at resort communities does not violate a constitutional requirement that Ohio laws apply across the state, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

The court voted 6-1 that the tax, which currently applies to just three communities, could be applied elsewhere in the future.

Justice Deborah Cook, writing for the majority, said the court could not find the law unconstitutional since "it is possible for any municipality or township throughout the state to become a resort area in the future."

The current tax applies only to Kelleys Island and the village and township of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. They fit a requirement in the 1993 law that at least 62 percent of houses be for seasonal or recreational use.

The resort tax replaced a similar sales tax aimed at Ohio islands. The court overturned that tax in 1992, saying it was unconstitutional because it applied only to specific locations.

Justice Andy Douglas dissented in yesterday's ruling, calling the resort tax an "island tax in different words."

"While we can conceive of a way that vendors in communities other than Put-in-Bay and Kelleys Island might some day be subject to the resort tax, the reality is that the vendors on the islands are the only targets of this tax," Douglas said.

The lawsuit was filed by Kelleys Island Caddy Shack.