HALIFAX—A Nova Scotia tourism group says it was “shocked” to see a proposal to pile taxes onto visitors to pay for a football stadium in Dartmouth.

Schooner Sports and Entertainment (SSE), the group hoping to build a $100-million CFL stadium in Shannon Park, is proposing to double a two-per-cent levy on hotel rooms and create a new rental car tax to pay its creditors up to $4 million a year for 30 years — $120 million over the life of the deal.

In an emailed statement on Tuesday, the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) said it was “shocked at the suggestion that the private sector consortium” SSE “would suggest increasing the visitor levy on accommodations and car rentals in order to fund the proposed sports stadium as outlined in their proposal to HRM.”

“The fact that no communication or outreach was made to the tourism industry on this issue speaks for itself,” TIANS said.

Asked for a response to TIANS’ statement that “no communication or outreach was made to the tourism industry,” Anthony LeBlanc, one of the partners behind SSE, said in an emailed statement that his organization has been “focused on delivering our proposal to our municipal partners, including the options they had requested for a cost-sharing funding model.”

“As we continue to receive community feedback, we will also be engaging key stakeholders like the Tourism Industry Association. We look forward to speaking with them and other organizations that should be part of this conversation.”

TIANS said it has been researching better uses of the revenue from hotel levies in Nova Scotia, but this isn’t what it had in mind.

“The indiscriminate suggestion that we should increase tax on all visitors using accommodation and car rentals to fund a private sector venture is completely inappropriate,” the group said.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has repeatedly said he would not fund a stadium out of general tax revenue, but has not ruled out the specific tax increases proposed by SSE.

Meanwhile, Halifax regional council won’t debate a proposal for a CFL stadium till later this month after a motion planned for Tuesday’s meeting was removed from the agenda.

Dartmouth Coun. Sam Austin had a motion on the agenda at Halifax regional council looking to direct staff to “take no further action on the stadium proposal.”

Due to a family emergency, Coun. Russell Walker was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting, so Austin removed the motion from the agenda with plans to debate the proposal at the next council meeting on Oct. 22.

The municipality released the details of the proposal from SSE, submitted in late August, on Sept. 26.

SSE laid out five options for Halifax to pay its share, including $30 million over 30 years, payments adding up to $25 million, a one-time payment of $15 to $22 million and the city taking on the entire financial risk of the loan for construction.

Under any scenario, one or more of the three levels of government would guarantee the loan and carry that risk.

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Austin’s motion would rescind an earlier motion of council to have staff consider the proposal and come back with a report. That process is expected to take months.

Because it rescinds an earlier vote by council, Austin’s motion will require a two-thirds vote in favour to pass.

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