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Looks Like Coachella is Staying Put: Councilman Who Proposed Increased Tax Reneges
After announcing his plan to pursue a tax on Coachella ticket sales, Indio City Councilman Sam Torres has reneged.
In a press release posted to the city's website yesterday, Torres explained that he proposed the tax with the hope of generating more income for the town in these tough economic times.
But his announcement was met with producers of the music festival threatening to leave Indio, and when that happened, he says he reconsidered.
“The potential for the music festivals to move out of the city exists, and if this should occur it would negatively impact the region," he said. "I cannot in good conscience allow this to happen no matter how dire the city’s circumstances.”
Torres suggested earlier in the week that tickets to major music festivals drawing more than 2,500 people be taxed five to ten percent each. For Coachella, that would mean an added $36 per ticket. Producers of the music festival heroically announced that they would never place such a burden on their attendees (attendees who are already paying upwards of $300 a ticket), and that if Torres' plan went through, they would take their festival elsewhere.
Looks like that won't be necessary.
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