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Kings Island and The Beach say even a small ticket tax would be troublesome in these tough economic times, but they are willing to talk with the city.

Increased ticket prices have a direct correlation to decreased attendance, say Kings Island General Manager Greg Scheid and Pam Strickfadden, vice president and general manger of The Beach. That's why there is free parking for gold card members at Kings Island this year and other rate reductions were taken, Scheid said. They are all worried the tanking economy will have a detrimental-enough effect on revenues this season.

"From a historical standpoint, anytime we've raised our price, even a one percent increase, we have seen a decrease in attendance," Scheid said. "And vice versa, anytime we held prices or lowered prices we've seen an increase. There is a direct relationship."

The city has revived the discussion of imposing an admissions tax to pay for infrastructure work that is needed in the area of these attractions, primarily around Kings Island.

The attractions also tax the city's services — police and fire — when they are in operation.

Councilman Tony Bradburn has been the prime mover of this issue. He traded barbs with Scheid and others during a finance committee meeting this week.

Strickfadden told Bradburn that a ticket tax will have a negative impact on The Beach. Bradburn retorted, "I understand that, but I have to take exception to that," he said. "Your patrons are part of the problem, with the infrastructure and city services the city of Mason has to provide."

Mayor Tom Grossmann had asked the attractions — Tennis for Charity Inc. and possibly other venues that charge admission that might be affected — to provide hard evidence that a ticket tax would harm them. Kings Island produced a study it had commissioned, using a 6 percent tax.

Grossmann said he presumed the study was actually commissioned when sales taxes were a topic of discussion in Columbus, so it was really irrelevant to the Mason issue, since he believes the maximum tax would be around 3 percent.

Scheid said even a 3 percent tax would be damaging, especially on their group sales, which constitutes about a third of their business. One local business pays the park $1 million every year for a two-day event. That's a $30,000 price bump.

Grossmann suggested they can negotiate a deal on the group sales portion. He also suggested they can offer The Beach a reduced percentage — as some other communities have done — because their ticket prices are lower and they have less of an infrastructure impact.

So what has been an adversarial atmosphere has turned cooperative.

"We consider all of our businesses, and certainly Kings Island and The Beach, to be important businesses. We care very much about them. We think they are good for our economy and our area," Grossmann said. "We don't want to do anything that would harm them. At the same time, they recognize we need to raise money to improve the infrastructure around Kings Island and The Beach."

Scheid and Strickfadden said they are relieved that they are now at the table, and not on a battlefield anymore.

"We're pledging the city to work them 100 percent on this," Scheid said.

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