The Bright Side

 The big tax increase coming to all hotels and motels in the area.
The second reading of the ordinance to increase Lake Geneva’s room tax rate increase from 5% to 8% was met with a large push back from short term rental property owners, as well as hotel owners and managers throughout the entire area. Several public comments regarding this issue helped sway the council to postpone any vote at this time.

One short term rental owner spoke at the meeting, sharing her struggle with the virus, and how it is causing vacation rentals to plummet to an all-time low this year. People are simply not vacationing as they did before, and people are watching the spending of money more than ever.  An extra tax charge might just be what puts them over whatever comfortable spending limit any potential customer might have. Not only is this a real issue for the hospitality business, but the illegal short-term rentals; those who are not abiding by state and city fee and tax policies, are able to offer lower rates to customers.

This issue has been brought up at previous city council meetings with no real action taken. Again, the building and zoning department stated that the city has had no real evidence of short-term rentals operating illegally in the city of Lake Geneva. Not everyone agrees with that and believes they are here and should be easily identifiable.  If these short-term illegal rentals are truly existent, then a remedy of discovery and enforcement would certainly benefit the entire industry. It also begs the question; what short-term renting is currently illegal and where is it occurring? It’s almost impossible to police this type of renting unless there are neighbor complaints, and there have been none of those noted yet. Discussions on this contentious issue are scheduled to continue at a city council meeting scheduled to occur in March of next year.

 

Dan. The guy who owns what used to be known as Carvetti’s.
It used to be like the guy’s name used to be Prince.  This guy, Dan Caravette, single-handedly, and at great personal expense, fed hundreds of homeless people Thanksgiving dinner at his restaurant. They came inside, fifty at a time. They came in cars, picking up meals and they came by appointment to get the good stuff for a Thanksgiving dinner.  The last part of this guy’s name is ‘Sin City,’ on Facebook, but this guy is about as far from the definition of what a sin city might be as the man on the moon.  If performance is a measure then this guy measures up.  If the spirit is something other than the undefinable ‘Holy Spirit’ we all have heard of but don’t know, then this guy is the embodiment.

Thanks, Dan Caravette.  We didn’t miss what you did, and we hope the community won’t miss it either.

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