MAYORS, COUNTIES AND SHOPPING CENTERS TEAM UP TO TACKLE
E-COMMERCE ISSUE
New Orleans, LA (June 12, 1999) – The U.S. Conference
of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and the International Council
of Shopping Centers (ICSC) are joining together to commission a study on
Electronic Commerce, announced Dallas Mayor Ronald Kirk during an Internet
panel session at the 67th Annual Conference of Mayors Meeting today
in New Orleans.
This critical study will determine the potential fiscal
impacts of tax policy decisions pertaining to Internet retail sales, analyzing
sales tax revenue loss and its effect on essential local services, like public
safety and education, said ICSC Chairman William McCabe. "ICSC is going where
the rubber meets the road to get things accomplished. We are meeting with the
mayors and county officials to ask the right questions and help find the right
solutions."
Mayor Kirk, Congressional appointee to the Advisory
Commission on E-Commerce and Chair of the Standing Committee on Urban Economic
Policy, U.S. Conference of Mayors, led an involved panel discussion on how
rapidly increasing Internet sales are affecting state and local revenues and
Main Street retail. Participants included: David Cowling, Partner, Jones, Day,
Reavis and Pogue and William H. McCabe, Jr., Senior Executive Vice President,
New England Development Corporation and ICSC Chairman. More than 75 cities
were represented including Mayor Victor Ashe, Knoxville and Mayor Sam Kathryn
Campana, Scottsdale, who are outspoken leaders on this critical issue.
Mayor Kirk urged the mayors to stay informed and involved in
this issue, working diligently to educate state and national leaders on the
implications of an eroded sales tax base.
