Staff Report Says Billboard Industry Submitted False Information About Revenues
A Staff Report presented to City Council in support of the proposed Billboard Tax and Signs By-Law states that Toronto’s billboard industry submitted false information with respect to its revenues during the extensive by-law creation process.
The report [PDF] takes direct aim at the Out of Home Marketing Association when it states, on page 19:
The data in the OMAC Study does not appear to be consistent with the published rates for outdoor advertising in Toronto, or the rents received for advertising structures on City property.
The report further notes:
The OMAC Study provided no verifiable data or a method that could be utilised to review the accuracy of the revenue and earnings information provided;
The report goes on to say that the industry provided “contradictory information” with respect to the impact the tax would have on employment.
The report also contains a detailed analysis of the revenues from various classes of signs and ultimately concludes that the proposed tax represents about 7% of industry revenues. In a comparative analysis with other jurisdictions, the report states that this 7% rate is similar to rates in New Jersey and Philadelphia and notes that after similar taxes were imposed in those jurisdictions the number of billboards did not decrease, suggesting the tax will have little impact on the industry.
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November 30th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
[...] as reports on ad revenue often rely on the companies to be self-reporting, and they are known to cook the books, but a 2007 New York Times article; As Billboards, Public Phones Always Work by Jo Craven McGinty [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Saying that information is inconsistent is not saying it is false. The only rebuttal they have is a professor and city staff who are not even familiar with the industry.