SnowShoe City ?

SnowShoe City would benefit Pocahontas county and the resort itself.It would have a government made up of well educated,intelligent people who understand their duties.

It would not be a benefit to the County. The Hotel/Motel tax does not apply to municipalities.$1.6 Million annually that goes to fund libraries,Fire and Rescue Squads, Dramas Fairs and Festivals ($800,000 is re-invested back into the County Tourism Office) etc. would be gone.
It would be a devastating development for the County.
A City Council election at Snowshoe would be very interesting. How many home owners would register to vote in WV/Snowshoe?
Would every Homeowners Association on the Mountain run their own slate of candidates?
There could easily be 10 candidates for Mayor and 150 candidates for City Council.
Alas, I just do not see it happening in the near future.

It would benefit the county in a few ways to have another incorporated town: Real estate tax would rise, some going into county funds: Property tax is higher in Durbin than in Frank or Bartow. Next, SnowShoe would serve as a model for the other municipalities: Consider Durbin where, often, no one wants to run for an office.If 10 people want to run for mayor in SnowShoe that would be an eyeopening lesson in democracy.Most of these people would probably be well educated and knowledgeable about the proper conduct of an office holder and have a knowledge of governance in general.SnowShoe could ask for government grants , as Durbin and Mill Creek did , where incorporation played a key role . Another thought: In both" Unleashing Capitalism " and in the metro issue, a lack of government is seen as a reason for the underdevelopment of the state, and is surely true of Pocahontas county. I would rather see SnowShoe get grant money through Metro instead of incorporating, but that is lightyears away.Homeowners associations are not elected entities.The laws would have to be changed to give them governmental functions. Incorporation would help SnowShoe, though, more than the county. I have seen it argued that the whole county needs to be incorporated , as is true in some states. Taxes would be the same, leash laws and sanitation laws would apply equally.The commission should debate the issue. This is an interesting discussion. and an important one.I hope many will participate.

Why would this be such a far fetched idea ?
Disney has already paved the way for this sort of thing.
It would give SnowShoe an even greater influence in government, both county and state.

Linda,

Yes, a Municipality can choose to impose a 6% hotel/motel tax if they choose.
However, a better way to rephrase my point is that the hotel/motel tax would then benefit the municipality and not the county(at least not directly, as Roger has pointed out the county would get some secondary benefits) as a whole any longer in this hypothetical scenario.