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Mason city officials promised they would never tax tickets sold to the Kings Island amusement park.

Or did they?

The Mason City Council finance committee is considering starting to charge an admissions tax on tickets sold at Kings Island and also at the nearby The Beach Waterpark.

They're looking for a way to reduce the amount of income tax paid by Mason residents who work in other cities. Mason charges a 1 percent income tax and residents who work elsewhere already receive a 50 percent tax credit, but council members want to eliminate the Mason income tax for residents who pay income taxes where they work.

Making these residents happy will cost the city government $2.1 million a year, which Mason can afford without cutting services, said Vice Mayor Tom Grossmann.

At the same time, some city council members want to tax amusement park visitors, though Grossmann insists that the proposals are separate.

Regardless, talk of an admissions tax has upset Kings Island's executives, who believe they have an agreement with Mason City Council from a decade ago, when the city annexed the amusement park from Deerfield Twp.

They claim to have a 1997 letter from then-City Manager Scot Lahrmer in which he pledged the city would not start an admissions tax. And former city council members who attended the council's meeting Monday night also said they informally promised to not impose an admissions tax.

Trouble is, the city council never voted on such an agreement.

"We were assured we would not be asked to replace that revenue," said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Greg Scheid "$2 million to us is a lot of money. We will fight it as hard as we have to."

Scheid said that a University of Cincinnati study showed that a 6 percent admissions tax at Kings Island, which attracts more than three million visitors a year, would negatively impact other businesses in the region such as hotels and restaurants by as much as 14 percent because fewer tourists would visit.

Councilman Tony Bradburn asked Scheid if any other 12 Cedar Fair amusement parks pay an admissions tax and Scheid said Cedar Point pays one in the city of Sandusky in northwest Ohio.

"Do you know there are 67 communities in the state of Ohio that have admissions taxes," Bradburn asked. "What makes you so special?"

Scheid mentioned the promise made by former Mason officials, to which Blackburn countered: "I didn't promise you anything. And I don't think there is any council that can make that promise legally binding."

Scheid said legally Bradburn was correct, but the city has a moral obligation to keep its word.

Mayor Char Pelfrey said Kings Island and executives from The Beach would be included in discussions regarding the admissions tax proposal.

City council members on Monday night planned to pass an emergency ordinance to put the income tax reduction issue on the May primary election ballot. However, a resident pointed out that, according to the city charter, the Mason City Council would have had to pass the ordinance 90 days prior to the election.

After a little scrambling and no admission that the resident was right, Grossmann amended his motion to change the election date to November. His amendment passed, but the city council rejected the motion to place the issue on the ballot failed on first reading so city council members will discuss it again at a later meeting.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.