There's no question in longtime Alta Mayor Bill Levitt's mind that the powdery snow in his mountain community makes for a skiing paradise.
The early snowfall has brought local and out-of-state skiers to the slopes in droves. Some are staying in the five lodges within Alta's town limits.
"I can guarantee you the slogan 'The greatest snow on Earth' is mostly up at Alta," he said, referring to the catchphrase emblazoned on Utah license plates.
Still, Levitt says, Utah tourism administrators could do a better job of touting this slice of heaven nestled at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Levitt, owner of the 57-room Alta Lodge, doesn't like sending his town's hotel-tax revenue to Salt Lake County, which contracts with the private, nonprofit Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote tourism. Alta, he said, should be allowed to use the money to sell itself.
The Salt Lake County bureau's job is to attract big conventions and trade shows whose participants book hotel rooms, shop and eat in area restaurants. The county expects a return on the $200 million it has invested in the downtown Salt Palace Convention Center and the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, according to Rick Davis, convention and visitors bureau president.
"What they do is paint with too broad of a brush," Levitt said. "We're too small for them to be bothered with." Incorporated in August 1970, Alta has about 400 residents.
All of Utah's 29 counties assess a 3 percent transient-room tax. Because of its size, Salt Lake County is allowed 0.5 percent on top of that. The money is to be used to for travel-related facilities and advertising.
Levitt, a New York transplant whose 29 years in office make him the state's longest-serving mayor, says the $311,000 in room tax revenue collected from Alta's lodges last year should stay in Alta. That way, he said, the resort community can focus on attracting its lifeblood: skiers.
"The focus in Salt Lake is to bring conventions here. Our concern is bringing skiers. We are competing against the whole United States on this," Levitt said.
Davis said it is incorrect for Levitt to assume the bureau does nothing for Alta. In fact, he says the town has received more than its share of marketing through the convention bureau.
According to a recent legislative audit of tourism promotion funding, Alta has received direct tourism benefits through the visitors bureau, as have other the three other resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons. The audit says those benefits include:
$91,413 in ski-lift business from interchangeable vouchers among the resorts.
$618,000 in media coverage from bureau-initiated articles.
1,284 room-nights from a Salt Lake convention booking.
Mention in the Cottonwood Resorts 2000-01 Vacation Planner.
Levitt calls those claims "absolute nonsense."
"These figures are highly questionable in our minds," he said. "This does not represent the true picture at all."
The mayor also grumbles that Alta's money is used to promote resorts with which it is in direct competition.
Davis made it clear in a recent letter to Levitt that the convention and visitors bureau does not "give" business to Alta. It provides leads for opportunities to bring in lodging business and is careful not play favorites in marketing an area. Alta still must compete with Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton for ski groups, Davis said.
Other communities in the state also have expressed a desire to use their hotel tax revenue as they see fit. And two of them have worked out arrangements with their counties, although according to the legislative audit problems still exist.
Wendover in Tooele County and Brian Head, a resort town in Iron County, receive a portion of the hotel tax from their counties.
"Some tourism professionals believe that having the (hotel tax) administered by municipalities would dilute spending, thus leading to some missed marketing opportunities," the audit says.
Levitt has taken up his cause with the Legislature and the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
The league discussed the issue during the summer and supports further study. It will not, however, be at the top of the league's agenda for the 2001 Legislature.
"The ball is pretty much in Alta's court," said David Spatafore, the league's legislative lobbyist.
Spatafore said he's not sure the organization would take a position on allowing cities or towns to keep a portion of the county-imposed hotel tax. While some would gain, others would lose.
"That to us is a very, very tough situation to be in," he said.
E-MAIL: romboy@desnews.com