Outdoor Hospitality News

For owners, operators, team members, and anyone else interested in camping, glamping, or the RV industry.

Texas Campground Association Continues To Push For Lower Property Taxes And Fewer Campground Industry Regulations

The biggest hurdle that the tourism industry is facing right now is COVID. A huge question among those in the camping industry prevails: what happens to the industry with COVID for the remainder of the year? Yet, even before the pandemic, factors like high property tax and strict regulations have been a problem for campground owners.

The Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO) is a group that represents over 350 private parks in Texas. Apart from providing educational seminars and marketing programs, TACO also pushes for legislative initiatives. 

In an interview with Modern Campground, Brian Schaeffer, executive director and CEO of Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO), said that the association continues to fight for campground owners’ issues.

“We are continuing to push for issues front and center. We want obviously less regulation for the campground industry that could hurt our parks,” he said.

“We also want lower taxes. Texas is a state that doesn’t have an income tax , but we do have pretty high property tax, so we’re fighting to get those things down, ” he added.

According to SmartAsset.com, Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the U.S. The average effective property tax rate in the Lone Star State is 1.69%, well above the national average of 1.07%.

As for the impact of COVID on the camping industry, Schaeffer also believes that the influence of the pandemic on businesses in the tourism industry also affects the camping industry.

“How did [COVID] affect not only our industry but also what our industry is built around—which is tourism largely. Well, you have campgrounds—most of which around the country— that did not close because they were considered essential businesses,” he told Modern Campground.

“When you have restaurants that closed, well then you know the campers have nowhere to eat. Or when you have major entertainment venues that closed, so then they don’t have places to go and things to see and do, so we’re keeping an eye on all of that, and we hope that we won’t have any other major shutdowns,” he added.

He also said that other states are facing requirements that would definitely affect the industry. However, Schaeffer believes that in Texas, “everything looks like it’s trending in the right direction as the parks are bustling, and we’ll continue to help them.”

Through the extent of the pandemic, TACO followed State guidelines such as mask requirements, social distancing, and more, which they extend to their members.

The group also partnered with the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association (THLA), a non-profit trade association representing lodging and tourism industry aspects.

“We push out a lot of information that we get that’s lodging-specific, so the members basically know what was going on at all times, and they have all weathered the storm quite nicely actually,” Schaeffer said.

The Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO) represents over 350 private parks in Texas. The association is a prime driver of tourism-related legislation and instrumental in fighting legislation detrimental to its members.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
thornlessrose-95
thornlessrose-95
March 16, 2024 6:34 am

You know, the Texas Campground Association truly has the backs of campground owners, offering support through educational resources and networking. It’s great to see them actively working with legislators to push for policies that help our camping industry thrive in Texas. It’s a real boost for us campers!

Advertisement

Send this to a friend
Hi, you might find this article from Modern Campground interesting: Texas Campground Association Continues To Push For Lower Property Taxes And Fewer Campground Industry Regulations! This is the link: https://moderncampground.com/usa/texas/texas-campground-association-continues-to-push-for-lower-property-taxes-and-fewer-campground-industry-regulations/