An organization that advocates for outdoor recreation businesses across Pennsylvania cautioned Lower Towamensing Township supervisors Tuesday about adopting an amusement tax ordinance.

Ladora Phillips, board president of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Recreation Association, said she was speaking on behalf of ski areas and outdoor recreation providers across the commonwealth.

“We recognize that municipalities like Lower Towamensing Township face real financial challenges, and we respect the responsibility you carry in identifying sustainable sources of revenue to support your community,” Phillips said.

However, she said supervisors should consider the “broader implications” of the proposal.

“For more than 20 years, the ski industry in Pennsylvania worked to establish the clear and consistent legal understanding regarding how ski areas are treated under amusement tax law,” she said. “That effort has resulted in the express statutory prohibition on municipalities from imposing an amusement tax on admissions to our ski areas. In interpreting that statutory prohibition, as the legislature intended, the judiciary had established precedent recognizing ski areas as integrated facilities; not as a collection of individually taxable amusements.”

Phillips said “that distinction matters.”

“The current proposal, as we understand it, would attempt to isolate and tax specific non-ski activities within a ski area such as Blue Mountain Resort,” she said. “From our perspective gained over two decades now, that approach runs counter to the legal framework that has been developed and relied upon across the Commonwealth.”

Phillips also challenged the idea that the tax could easily be absorbed through a small ticket increase.

“Many discussions around this proposal assume that a modest amusement tax can simply be passed along through a small increase in ticket prices, and that the impact would (as a result) be minimal. That is not how these markets behave,” she said. “Unlike winter skiing, which is often planned in advance and less sensitive to small price changes, summer and non-ski activities are highly discretionary,” Phillips said. “They are often last-minute decisions made by families and local residents. She said even minor increases could reduce participation.

“Even small increases in price can influence whether those activities are chosen at all,” Phillips said.

In practice, this does not result in one-to-one shift in cost,” she said. “Instead, it reduces participation at the margins, particularly among price-sensitive groups such as families with children.”

Phillips said a decline in participation could ripple beyond the resort.

“Fewer visitors mean fewer meals purchased at local restaurants, fewer stops at gas stations, and fewer overnight stays in nearby lodging and short-term rentals,” she said. “What may appear to be a modest, targeted tax can ultimately result in a broader contraction of local economic activity.”

She added the impact could also affect the community’s long-term appeal.

“The strength of the local visitor economy contributes to the overall desirability of the community,” Phillips said. “Over time, policies that reduce visitation and economic activity can have a dampening effect on that desirability, which in turn can influence residential property values.”

Phillips said the association supports year-round access to outdoor recreation for Pennsylvania families.

“We believe strongly in the role that outdoor recreation plays in developing and sustaining strong rural communities,” she said. “Ski areas and their summer operations provide safe, accessible places for families to gather, and for young people to socialize responsibly.”

She said those partnerships go beyond economics and are tied to quality of life and community connection.

Phillips said the association also has a responsibility to ensure consistency in how amusement tax law is applied.

“If actions are taken by Lower Towamensing Township that conflict with established precedent prohibiting amusements taxes on admissions to ski areas, it introduces uncertainty not just for one operator or one township, but for the industry as a whole across the Commonwealth,” Phillips said. “For that reason, the association would need to carefully evaluate all available options to protect the integrity of that long-standing interpretation.”

Phillips said the organization hopes to avoid conflict.

“Our strong preference is not to pursue conflict. We believe there is a more constructive path forward — one that supports Lower Towamensing Township’s financial needs while also preserving the economic viability of a key local business and the broader visitor economy and community it supports,” she said.