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Show rjusnimess fltaall Estate D CLASSIFIEDS D5 The Park Record 0 Section D Thursday, June 2 1994 Page D1 Park City heats up with arrival of summer visitors David Myers MM wm tK - Little known defense can fight IRS If the IRS wants to hit you with back taxes and penalties for a previous return, you might be able to dodge the bullet by using the little known "innocent spouse" defense. DEAR MR. MYERS: I got divorced two years ago. The IRS recently audited a joint tax return that my ex- husband and I filed when we were still married, and now the government wants more than $5,000 in back taxes and penalties because he claimed $16,000 in mortgage interest payments instead of the $7,500 that we were supposed to take. He always took care of the return. Is there some way for me to avoid paying the IRS bill? Ms. RP. ANSWER Clearly, you are liable for the back taxes and penalties if you knew that he was overstating the deductions. The same would hold true if he had understated your income. The Internal Revenue Service can make you pay the entire penalty if they can't get any money from him, or if your assets are simply easier to grab than his. You might be able to avoid paying the bill by using the "innocent spouse" defense, which is available to married and divorced couples alike. You already meet two of its basic requirements because your former spouse"substantially understated" .your joint tax liability and the understatement is attributable to "grossly erroneous items." However, you would still have to prove that you did not know and had no reason to know about the inflated mortgage interest deduction. You would also have to persuade the IRS that it would be unfair to make you pay for the error now. You need to consult a good accountant or tax attorney. Only then can you determine whether the cost of fighting the IRS without any guarantee of winning will off set the cost of simply paying the penalty. DEAR MR. MYERS: When my dog bit my neighbor's leg two years ago, my homeowners insurance paid for the man's medical bills. But now my dog has died, and it will cost $500 to replace him. Will my insurance pay for a new dog? Mrs. T.K., Sandy, Utah ANSWER: Your insurance claim wouldn't stand a prayer. Pets are not covered for injury or death by the typical homeowners insurance policy. DEAR MR. MYERS: I followed your advice and began adding $50 to each of my mortgage payments a little over two years ago. Now I am thinking about buying another home that I would rent to my mom, but interest rates are a lot higher. Does pre paying still make sense? Mr. R.S., Wheaton, 111. , ANSWER: It's wise to add a bit extra to every monthly payment you make, regardless of your interest rate. Our booklet, "Free and Clear," provides all the details you need to prepay your loan and save thousands in finance charges. Send $3 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to David Myers, P.O. Box 2960, Culver City, Calif. 9023 1-2960. David Myers is a nationally syndicated columnist. Questions can be addressed to David MyersREFI, P.O. BOX 2960, Culver City, California 90231 by MATTHEW KEITH Record staff writer The Park City area is proud of its image as a premier ski destination, however the ChamberBureau feels that there is a lot more potential to Park City than just its snow. The ChamberBureau is hoping to increase not only summer visitation but also to present Park City as a year 'round resort destination with activities and events as well as fine dining and shopping for every season, not just the winter. Kathy Pearson, marketing director for the Park City ChamberBureau, said, "We are excited about the increase in visitation during the summer. We are using response driven marketing, which means we place ads in various publications around the country which are designed to stimulate feedback from the reader, which in turn allows us to track and analyze the figures to better understand the summer position." As far back as 1987 there were several consecutive years where Park City did experience a substantial increase. Summer visitor nights were seeing double digit percentage increases, anywhere from 17 percent to 30 percent per year. The growth continued through to 1991, at which point summer visitors began to decrease. In marketing terms Park City could be referred to as "product", and all products have life cycles. The first cycle generally includes a high growth rate. Once the product has reached its maturity it will begin to level off, and then finally it will Cole Sport remodels by DICK GRIFFIN Record staff writer If it looks to you like the Silver King Coalition building is rising from its ashes on the corner of Park Avenue and Empire Avenue, you're right in a remodeled sort of way. The building, which houses i 4- 'i -. H ill iii vx nut 1 It if -- - - photo by Dick Griffin Gary Cole, owner of Cole Sport in Park City, models one of the mountain bikes that can be purchased at the store location Get advance payment on !ncome credit Even as it continues to process the truckloads of mail resulting from the tax filing deadline earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service begins sending letters to 10 million filers, telling them they don't have to wait until next year to get money back from the government. The IRS is notifying taxpayers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on their 1993 Correction In a story regarding the Senators' Cup in last week's Park Record, several factual errors were made. The Senators' Cup has never been funded by tax dollars or public funding. It is not being investigated by the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives or the Primary Children's Medical Center Board of Directors. The Senators' Cup is not an event reach the point of saturation and eventually begin to diminish. "We have a great product here in Park City. Along with the shopping and the dining we also offer the Little Miner's Park at the Resort Center and the Alpine Slide, as well as the Lift Serve at Deer Valley for the mountain bikers and the Music in the Mountains which has been very popular for the last few years. The addition of the Winter Sports Park is an attraction that is used in both the summer and the winter," Pearson said. For the ChamberBureau to be able to target the appropriate market for the area, it tries to outline the type of customer that is currently visiting Park City and then to profile them in order to create a marketing approach. Also, the Chamber must be able to profile the type of people that they want to attract In a recent survey the Chamber Bureau was able to determine that the typical Park City visitor is an outdoor type, who is highly educated and generally in his or herlate 30s to 40s. The study also showed that the out-of-state visitor usually spends about $90 per person per day, whereas the in- state overnight visitor spends approximately $74 per person per day. "What we are trying to do is offer a broader product to the visitors which make them want to return not just in one season but all year long. Also, we try to appeal to repeat visitors. Those are the ones that frequently know when there is a new restaurant or store here, and they are an excellent source of feedback," said Pearson. Cole Sport, was originally designed by Ted Warr in 1973. According to Warr, it was designed using the image of the Coalition building but it was not meant to minor it. The building was originally used by the Greater Park City Company which was a reservation service. Gary Cole took over the A returns that if they expect to claim the credit again this year, and have a qualifying child living with them, they can have advance payments of the credit added to their paychecks during 1994. Over 76,000 Utah families will qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) this year. Advance EITC payments allow low income workers to increase their take-home pay by as much as $102 per month, starting that generates "a tremendous amount of income for the ski area," as the article had stated. Conversely, the Park City Ski Area spends about $90,000 to host the event. Finally, the integrity of former Sen. Jake Garn and his dedication to raising money for the hospital has never been in question. The Record regrets the errors and any inconvenience it may have caused the Park City Ski Area or Senators' Cup sponsors and organizers. i Pictured above is the Little Miner's Park and the Alpine activities that are very popular with the summer visitors to The ChamberBureau's marketing features lodging, reservation technique in the past was to build product image in select market areas with repetitive direct mail campaigns. However, after a while isolating the market methods had become difficult which in turn caused the return of some visitors to decrease. For the 1994 summer season the ChamberBureau is trying a new marketing approach. They have produced what is called a Summer Vacation Planner. It is a community brochure and sales piece, which store to keep up with growth building in 1987 and has used it as retail space ever since. "This structure was built as sort of a landmark," he said, "there was a lot of volume but little floor space." So he called his friend Ted Warr and together they planned the reconstructionrefurbishmentrem o-deling. Entrance in Rear (m.tractor: Skda C onstruct icm ( . with their next paycheck. Fewer than one percent of workers eligible for the credit are getting the advance payments. Recent studies show that many employees are unaware of how to get this extra money in their paychecks, while others fear their employers' reaction, if the credit is requested to be added to their paychecks. A number of employers, however, view the advance payment as a means to increase their employees' take-home pay almost immediately, without increasing their payroll burden. Employers also appreciate the advance EITC payments' easing of employees' day-to-day financial concerns, and infusion of additional funds into the local economy in a matter of weeks. For more information on the advance EUC, call an IRS assistor on 1-800-829-1010 or get Form W-5 W-5 or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit. 4 j ' services, as well as a calendar of events and the Bear Hollow Sports Park list of events. Also included will be an outline of the ski resort activities and mine tours. In regards to the type of business generation that the Chamber would like to promote, Pearson said, "What we would like to do is to generate a business element from Sunday to Thursday. Most visitors are here on the weekend and associate Park City with that aspect However, there are many more things to do during the The construction going on right now is considered the second and final stage. The first phase went on last summer. "Last year we added bathrooms and circulation space (stairs, an elevator etc.) and about 2,000 square feet of retail floor space, This summer we will be adding 1,500 square feet for retail and about 600 square feet of office space." "We're moving the corporate offices back into this building. The goal is to get everything Marketplace centered under one roof," Cole said. The basement will house the offices and a new shippingreceiving room. Also planned is an employee break room and an expanded rentalrepair area for skis. Cole said, "I have a feeling about ski shops, they are crowded if you don't design for that season. There are so many heavy, hard goods in the winter season that it just always takes up space." Cole plans to make the ski equipment area large enough to house a couch and chairs so that customers can relax while they are waiting for friends to shop. "It will be very customer oriented and user friendly," he 12.000 . " 11,000 1 10.000 1 9,000 I ,000 I . 7.000 6 000 Siitstor"' Tu ' Wd ' Thin ' Pri IMr NOW Sk pfltow to npiM m Itouuntf vMor ntgha, tnltc1mlkllyrtitntml hatbainxinMl!wnaimI300. PROJECTED LODGING TALLY FOR WEEK OF June 5 -11, 1994 Total VWUir Nights WwkljrHitb Nightly Avenge YeaMiHlatt This tally estimate, lodging at 18 Tht visitor night tolly is computed by adding tht number of visitors in Park City per night per week. 1 Slide (in background) two Park City week without all the people here. Since it was not long ago that the business district in Park City used to close its doors at the end of the sip-season, sip-season, the ChamberBureau is trying to generate a year'round appeal that could eventually rival the winter. "We want the visiting population to know that the seasons in Park City are expanding and that visitors can come here any time of year and enjoy themselves," Pearson concluded. said. The new design of the building will allow for goods to be moved more easily inside the building. It will also make the structure better. Cole said, "When we finish with the building this time it will be safer. With the new codes we will be fully sprinklered and meet the new handicap access requirements." The bicycle shop has been left relatively untouched with the construction going on. The ride-in, ride-in, ride-out access is located in the parking lot behind the building. "We designed the bike shop around the garage door. We use it to bring in displays like the 1960 Triumph-iTR3 we had lar-year." lar-year." According to Cole it gives the customer a unique open-air feel to the bike shop. Cole opened his original store in the Park City Resort Center in 1982. His latest store is in the Royal Plaza Building at Deer Valley's Silver Lake. He also runs the pro shop in the Park City Racquet Club. Cole Sport employs 70-plus people in the winter seaon and fewer in other seasons. Cole Sport can be reached at 649-4800. 649-4800. Pillow Talk Wtows' represent the number of guests lodging facilities can accommodate per night. Park Cry has approximately 12,000 pillows. 13,833 2.753 (Friday) 1,976 752,149 1 |