County leaders clash over bed tax draft plan
NORWICH – County lawmakers are mulling over a draft plan to collect an additional tax on hotel rooms in Chenango County and to hold hotel owners who don't pay accountable.
The idea of the labeled “bed tax” was first floated in February when the County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution requesting that New York approve home rule legislation that would enact the local tax. The proposal passed both houses of the state legislature in June and is now waiting for the governor's signature.
“This is, since I've been here, the first local tax law we've entertained passing,” County Attorney Allan Gordon said when presenting the draft plan to members of the Chenango County Finance Committee earlier this month. “All our other tax laws are state derived. This is one that the state doesn't collect from us.”
Barring nonprofits and municipalities, the draft implements a 4 percent tax on nearly every lodging enterprise, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, tourist homes, vacation rentals, cottages, cabins and condominiums.
It also exempts people of permanent residence – those whose occupancy lasts 90 days or longer.
The plan, explained Gordon, executes the bed tax in the same fashion as a sales tax. Business owners start by filing a one-page registration certificate with the county treasurer's office. Once approved, it then becomes the owner's responsibility to file quarterly returns.
The draft also breaks down the options county executives have to file litigation against those who don't pay. It gives right to the county to take hotel operators to court or place a lien against the property of those who don't comply (the more likely option, said Gordon). Late payments are subject to a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of tax due, plus a 1.5 percent interest rate for each month thereafter.
Officials are still undecided whether the law, if adopted, would apply to camp sites. Chenango County's home to just one private campground: Tall Pines in Bainbridge. Other campgrounds in the county are run by municipalities or nonprofit organizations.
“This may not end up with the governor for a while,” said County Treasurer William Craine, noting that even if the proposal's signed, it would require a public hearing and approval from the Chenango County Board of Supervisors before taking effect. “It's a two to three month process once it's signed. We would like to implement January 1. We just want to be ready.”
Chenango County is currently one of less than a half-dozen counties in New York without a “bed tax” on hotels. The proposed plan is modeled on a similar plan enforced in Madison County. The treasurer's office estimates it would bring in $70,000 annually from visitors, $20,000 of which would be spent on administrative expenses. The remaining $50,000 would offset the $47,000 annual contract that the county pays Commerce Chenango for promotion and tourism, effectively eliminating that burden from the tax rolls.
Even so, the proposal's been chided by some members of the county board.
“We don't have the attractions, we don't have the ski resorts, we don't have the hotel destinations,” said Smyrna Supervisor Michael Khoury, one of just five supervisors including those from Oxford, Smithville, Otselic, and German who voted against the measure in February.
Khoury argued to the County Finance Committee that the plan is “ill-advised” and “going to undo everything that we try to do to attract people to the county.”
“I think we're not going to get the revenue and we're certainly not going to get as many tourists as we could. It's just an uninvited tax and a burden on people that we're trying to attract to the county,” he added.
Chenango County leaders hope to make the bed tax part of their 2019 financial plan. If adopted, the law may go into effect as early as January 1.
The idea of the labeled “bed tax” was first floated in February when the County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution requesting that New York approve home rule legislation that would enact the local tax. The proposal passed both houses of the state legislature in June and is now waiting for the governor's signature.
“This is, since I've been here, the first local tax law we've entertained passing,” County Attorney Allan Gordon said when presenting the draft plan to members of the Chenango County Finance Committee earlier this month. “All our other tax laws are state derived. This is one that the state doesn't collect from us.”
Barring nonprofits and municipalities, the draft implements a 4 percent tax on nearly every lodging enterprise, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, tourist homes, vacation rentals, cottages, cabins and condominiums.
It also exempts people of permanent residence – those whose occupancy lasts 90 days or longer.
The plan, explained Gordon, executes the bed tax in the same fashion as a sales tax. Business owners start by filing a one-page registration certificate with the county treasurer's office. Once approved, it then becomes the owner's responsibility to file quarterly returns.
The draft also breaks down the options county executives have to file litigation against those who don't pay. It gives right to the county to take hotel operators to court or place a lien against the property of those who don't comply (the more likely option, said Gordon). Late payments are subject to a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of tax due, plus a 1.5 percent interest rate for each month thereafter.
Officials are still undecided whether the law, if adopted, would apply to camp sites. Chenango County's home to just one private campground: Tall Pines in Bainbridge. Other campgrounds in the county are run by municipalities or nonprofit organizations.
“This may not end up with the governor for a while,” said County Treasurer William Craine, noting that even if the proposal's signed, it would require a public hearing and approval from the Chenango County Board of Supervisors before taking effect. “It's a two to three month process once it's signed. We would like to implement January 1. We just want to be ready.”
Chenango County is currently one of less than a half-dozen counties in New York without a “bed tax” on hotels. The proposed plan is modeled on a similar plan enforced in Madison County. The treasurer's office estimates it would bring in $70,000 annually from visitors, $20,000 of which would be spent on administrative expenses. The remaining $50,000 would offset the $47,000 annual contract that the county pays Commerce Chenango for promotion and tourism, effectively eliminating that burden from the tax rolls.
Even so, the proposal's been chided by some members of the county board.
“We don't have the attractions, we don't have the ski resorts, we don't have the hotel destinations,” said Smyrna Supervisor Michael Khoury, one of just five supervisors including those from Oxford, Smithville, Otselic, and German who voted against the measure in February.
Khoury argued to the County Finance Committee that the plan is “ill-advised” and “going to undo everything that we try to do to attract people to the county.”
“I think we're not going to get the revenue and we're certainly not going to get as many tourists as we could. It's just an uninvited tax and a burden on people that we're trying to attract to the county,” he added.
Chenango County leaders hope to make the bed tax part of their 2019 financial plan. If adopted, the law may go into effect as early as January 1.
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