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Show 1 THE PARK RECORD www.parkrecord.com WEDTHURSFRI, JUNE 30-JULY 2, 2004 B-9 BUSINESS EDITOR: Monika Guendner 649-90 1 4 ext 1 10 businessparkrecordxom Briefs ; Strea sales to seems aini but Jennifer Arenkiel receives 'Rising Star of the Year' award The Utah Chapter of Meeting j Professional International recently ( presented Jennifer Arenkiel of Deer I Valley Lodging, with the prestigious I "Rising Star of the Year" award for 2003-2004. , Nominated ancUvoted upon by the ; MP Utah Chapter's 142-person : membership-at-large, the annual , award recognizes Arenkiel's contribu-. contribu-. tions for her time and effort to the t organization. Recipients are typically f members who will soon move into a leadership position within MPI Utah, I or continue to illustrate member benefits ben-efits to others and be a strong advo-i advo-i cats of MPI. A national sales manag- er for Deer Valley Lodging since i October 2003, Arenkiel has more than k six years of experience in the hospi-: hospi-: tality industry 'and has been a mem-I mem-I ber of MPI since 2002. Frontier Bank welcomes new mortgage manager Rebecca Geo has joined Frontier Bank as mortgage manager of its Residential Loan Division. Qao received her Master's degree in economics from the University of -Idaho and has served as a home mortgage consultant at Wells Fargo ; for the past 11 years. She has been recognized as one of the top loan pro duoers at Wells Fargo, nationwide. 4th of July parade is full ' This year's 4th of July Parade has reached its limit of 65 entries. No additional entries can be accepted. The parade begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 4. Spectators' are encouraged to arrive early and use public transportation to get into the downtown area. Proper ID required to drink on the 4th . Residents and visitors who chose to buy andor consume alcoholic beverages bev-erages during the July 4th festivities in City Park need to present a driver license or other proper identification to verify their age. n Grand 0 2 r Dinner - everyday from 5:30 to close Special 3 course dinner - $16.95 Free salad with this ad (Dinner Time only) Lunch - Wednesday-Sunday 1 1 :30-3:00 Special 3 courses for $10.95 Buona Vita 628 Park Ave., Across from tLe Kimball Art Center m Local businesses struggle to figure out how andwhy changes will affect them By MONIKA GUENDNER Of the Record staff It's meant to be a method for states to collect more sales tax revenues in the future, but for 2004, the Streamlined Sales Tax is creating nothing but headaches for local business owners. "I don't know where they got the name 'streamlined.'" said Ken Whipple, co-owner of Park City Jewelers, Inc. The proposed change in how the sales tax will be collected means a lot of new things for his business, and none of them with any perceivable benefits. According to Whipple, his expenses will increase with the need of a designated desig-nated phone or DroaaDana line for con-t con-t i n u o u s Internet access, new -yet undeveloped undevel-oped accounting software and plenty of sweat and time invested u don't know name 'streamlined." Park in changing the sales tax from "point of sale," i.e., using the rate based on the location of his store, to "point of delivery," using the rate based on where the product will be delivered. One large part of the Streamlined Sales Tax program is to establish uniform uni-form sales and use tax standards and compliances for all types of sellers and . all types of commerce. One intended effect is to recapture the sales tax that is not being paid with Internet purchases. "The Streamlined Sales Tax, at the base of it, is an effort to level the playing play-ing field between the brick-and-mortar businesses and businesses doing online transactions," said Jodi Monaco, spokeswoman for the Utah State Tax Commission. Buying an item at a physical store requires that the business collect the tax. The burden of paying the tax on an Internet purchase is placed on the consumer con-sumer - who more often than not does not pay it. This gives online retailers a perceived advantage of being cheaper and denies states of sales tax revenues. "Some sales tax dollars that would have gone into the local economy are going nowhere. Nobody's paying those taxes and states are starting to see this in their coffers," said Monaco. Whipple sells his custom and ready-made ready-made jewelry through his two storefronts store-fronts on Main Street and directly through his website. If someone would buy a snowflake pendant in the brick-and-mortar store today, Whipple would charge them the 7.25 percent combined sales tax. If someone in Salt Lake City bought the same pendant online, he would again charge the same 7.25 per U. of Michigan: Consumer confidence up in June Americans expressed unexpectedly positive mood about economy, despite war and nigh gas prices By MICHAEL S. DERBY Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK (Dow JonesAP) -American consumers' moods brightened in June, as their views on current circumstances circum-stances took a solid jump forward, said a report released Friday. The closely watched University of Michigan's full-month report on consumer sentiment during June showed a reading of 95.6, after the 95.2 seen in the preliminary prelimi-nary report on June sentiment arid the 90.2 "THE BEST ITALIAN FOOD IN TOWN" location! 'penmg in our new cent. If the buyer resided in Wyoming, however, Park City Jewelers is not . responsible for collecting any tax, and Whipple would not charge any. After the SST goes into effect, however, how-ever, Whipple would charge the in-store customer 7.25 percent, the Salt Lake City customer Salt Lake's 6.60 percent and would still not collect sales tax from the Wyoming customer. Roughly half of the business s sales involve shipping the pieces to the customer, making these calculations a constant part of the transactions, trans-actions, said Whipple. Because Utah is in the forefront of this effort to adopt SST, Whipple and other small business owners will be forced to do much of the accounting manually, until individual software companies com-panies upgrade their business accounting account-ing programs with facets that can account for the thousands of different tax zones across the country. Summit County alone where they got the has three dif- ferent tax zones. Park City proper charges 7.25 percent sales tax; businesses business-es within the Snyderville Basin Transit - Ken Whipple City Jewelers District collect col-lect 6.35 percent sales tax and other areas of the county collect 6.1 percent. "It's going to be a huge accounting nightmare." said Whipple. Terry Parkin is vice president of another small company. Designer Hardware in Prospector Square. As a dealer in high-end door knob hardware, bath fixtures and cabinet hardware. Parkin will have to keep a close eye on where orders are delivered. He has the same problems with his accounting software soft-ware - the popular QuickBooks has not created a version to tax an item based on point of delivery. Since Designer Hardware often delivers to zip codes outside of 84060 (the store's address) Parkin will be responsible for the cumbersome calculations, calcula-tions, approximately three times as much as with a point of sale collection. "I know it's going to take a few extra hours every month ... in tracking alone," he said. And while he might understand the desire to ievel the playing field,' he is skeptical that this will do the trick. He is even more skeptical that all the extra work will bring in any extra benefit to his and other businesses. For more information on the Streamlined Sales Tax: Logon to The Utah State Tax Commission 's website at tax.utah.gov The Streamlines Sales Tax website at. www.streamlinedsalestax.org ; You can also contact the Utah State Tax Commission at (801) 297-2200 or toll-free 1-800-662-4335 or by emailing sstmasterutah.gov seen in May, according to people who saw the report. The report is released only to subscribers. The index had stood at 94.2 in April. The degree of improvement in the June number wasn't expected by economists. A survey of forecasters conducted by Dow Jones Newswires had expected to see a reading of 95.0 for June. The Michigan data showed that assessments assess-ments of current conditions also improved, with that measure standing at 106.7, up from 103.6 in May. The June cur $25 l , . i . Sellers get reprieve from Utah Legislature during Mondays special session By MONIKA GUENDNER Of the Record staff Businesses such as Park City Jewelers, Inc. and Designer Hardware will be able to relax for a little while. The Utah Legislature voted unanimously unanimous-ly in a special session on Monday to delay the implementation of several components of the Streamlined Sales Tax. For now, sellers will continue to tax items based on the location of the store, or "point of sale," not the location where the buyer takes possession of the items, or "point of delivery." That's good news for Ken Whipple of Park City Jewelers, who likened the new system as harassment for small businesses. business-es. If the original start date of July 1 had gone into effect, Whipple predicted that most small businesses would not have been able to comply. Although the bill that proposed the change was passed in the 2003 legislative session enough business owners still felt the news was abrupt and the task too large to complete and convinced the legislature leg-islature to postpone the start until July 1, 2005. "We've been trying to give people the heads up for 18 months, because that's when it was passed," said Jodi Monaco, spokeswoman for the Utah State Tax Commission. But the message has been slow in getting get-ting out. Terry Parkin, vice president of Designer Hardware, first heard of the WhatThe 7.35 vv V--. r V ( n I KYLE BURRESSI PARK RECORD With the Streamlined Sale Tax, sellers would have to tax buyers according to where they take possession of the product, not where the product was sold. rent conditions index had been reported at 108.1 earlier in the month. Meanwhile, the group's expectations index moved to 88.5, from the preliminary level of 86.9 and 81.6 in May. ' The Michigan survey data comes amid a complicated time for the U.S. economy. Most measures of economic growth are improving at a solid clip, including the most important measure, employment. But everyday consumers have been facing higher prices for gasoline, while national polls of consumer attitudes have shown an increased level of concern about unfolding events in the ongoing war in Iraq. Into this environment, the Federal Reserve will be meeting next Tuesday and JZStecoTer Park City's best - - Gift Certifiir - $25 Valid thru July 3 1,2004 Reservations appreciated Towards purchase of minimum 2 entrees. Please PRESENT THIS AD TO YOUR SERVER to receive this special offer. This coupon is not applicable with any other coupons or promotions. Chez Betty will accept cash, checks, and credit cards. Casual Fine Dining Rocky Mountain Zagat Survey recognizes Chez Betty as Utah's Top Eclectic Restaurant with Utah's best food Located in the Copperbottom Inn on Deer Valley Drive Park Ciry, Utah For reservations call 435-649-8181 or www.chezbetty.com change-about six months ago; Whipple first caught wind of it last month, when the Park City ChamberBureau announced a special meeting with the Utah State Tax Commission to explain some of the components of the changes. On top of the short timeframe to prepare, pre-pare, businesses are struggling with software soft-ware that cannot handle the changes, the subsequent increase in paperwork and the apparent lack of benefit for all the extra labor. Answers are also difficult to come by sometime, especially to 'how' and 'why,' according to several business owners. Parkin spent most of Monday designing design-ing new tax codes for Designer Hardware's computer system in anticipation anticipa-tion of the change; the codes will now sit in limbo until next year. Despite his effort, and the efforts of other business owners who had taken pains to change over to the new system. Parkin is obligated by law to stay with the current tax rates, said Monaco. According to budget manager Gary Hill, Park City Municipal Corp. will not be affected by the SST program, at least in the area of revenue collection. That is due to a 'hold harmless' clause in the bill that allows the 1 percent city tax to be redirected back to the city. In Park City, for example, the 7.35 percent sales tax is actually four components: 4.75 percent state sales tax. 1 percent city sales tax. .25 percent mass transit tax. 1 percent resort tax. .10 percent Recreation. Art and Parks tax and .25 county sales tax. Although the city was involved in directing the city tax back to the source. Hill did not anticipate any further involvement unless futures changes to the law lead to radical differences. Sales Tax an V, Al Wednesday. The bank is widely expected to end the meeting by implementing its first interest rate hike in four years, pushing push-ing the current 1 percent federal funds target tar-get rate up to 1.25 percent. The Fed is seeking to normalize interest rates after an extended period of some of the easiest monetary policy in the bank's history. The end-of-month Michigan data is based on a telephone survey of around 500 consumers, conducted by telephone. Generally, consumer confidence measures, aren't held in high regard by members of the Federal Reserve, who have frequently stated they prefer to see statistics on actual actu-al economic activity, rather than what consumers con-sumers say about their personal attitudes. 1 $25 kept secret: tc |