pCANTON — The types of lodging facilities that are required to collect St. Lawrence County’s 3 percent bed tax may be expanded if county legislators agree to revise and clarify an existing law that hasn’t been updated since 2004./ppCounty Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brooke E. Rouse said the county’s occupancy tax law, which does not clearly define who is required to collect the tax, should be reviewed by county officials./ppThe tax is supposed to be charged to occupants of hotels, motels and other overnight lodging and is in addition to the county’s 8 percent sales tax. /ppMrs. Rouse met recently with County Administrator Ruth A. Doyle to discuss the bed tax law and revenues. The revenue is supposed to be paid quarterly to the county Treasurer’s Office./pp“I think the goal is to review that law and see where the revenue gaps are,” Mrs. Rouse said./ppShe also said there have been changes in the lodging industry over the past few years, such as the creation of Airbnb, and Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) both websites for people to list, find and rent lodging from local hosts. /ppThose peer-to-peer rental situations are not identified in the existing occupancy tax law and the county may want to consider such businesses for inclusion./pp“We want to encourage that type of activity in a rural area,” Mrs. Rouse said. “The trends in lodging are changing and the occupancy tax doesn’t reflect the current status of the lodging industry.”/ppDuring their review of the existing law, she said county officials may review whether other types of lodging should be specified in the law./pp“We don’t have a lot of large hotels, but we do have things like cottage rentals and vacation homes. It’s not clear if these are included in the law,” Mrs. Rouse said./ppRita J. Ostrander, operator of Ostrander’s Bed & Breakfast, Canton, said the county lacks a mechanism for making sure that the occupancy tax is being collected by all of the facilities covered in the law./pp“It appears to be on an honor system. There doesn’t appear to be a system in place that monitors whether it’s being paid,” Mrs. Ostrander said./ppThe county’s occupancy law was created in 1991 and amended in 2004 to include bed & breakfast and camp facilities. The tax is also supposed to be collected by hotels, motels, boarding houses, motor courts, clubs, camps and other buildings that lodge guests whether or not meals are served./ppMrs. Rouse said the law does not define the lodgings, which is problematic for terms like motor court and clubs. /pp“I’m not sure what those are and the law doesn’t define them,” she said./ppMrs. Rouse and others involved in the county’s tourism industry would also like county legislators to consider allocating a percentage of bed tax revenues to the county chamber so that the funds can be used for tourism promotion./ppSeveral other counties in the state, including Jefferson County, dedicate a portion of their bed tax revenues to tourism promotion. /ppHowever, all of St. Lawrence County’s bed tax revenues go into the county’s general fund. In this year’s county budget the county Legislature cut funding to the chamber by roughly $60,000./ppMrs. Rouse said she would like to collaborate with the county Legislature regarding whether bed tax money can be annually earmarked for her agency and how much./pp“If we know we have a certain amount allocated each year we can have better long-term planning and have a more successful marketing campaign,” she said./ppMrs. Ostrander agreed. /pp“I would like to see the majority, if not all the bed tax go to the chamber,” Mrs. Ostrander said/ppShe suggested that the idea may be more agreeable to county legislators if restrictions are placed on how the county chamber is allowed to use bed tax revenues./ppIn 2015, St. Lawrence County collected $385,676 in bed tax revenues which is turned in quarterly to the county treasurer’s office./ppJefferson County Treasurer Karen M. Christy said Jefferson County also charges a 3 percent bed tax and keeps 2 percent of the revenue to cover administrative fees. Last year, the county collected nearly $903,000 in bed tax./ppThe county provides 49 percent of the collections to the towns where it’s generated with the idea that it’s used for tourism promotion. It also allocated $494,000 to the Thousand Islands Tourism Council this year and in 2015./ppby the numbers/ppSt. Lawrence County occupancy tax revenues /ppspan class="bullet"n/span 2011: $346,672 span class="bullet"n/span 2012: $369,385 span class="bullet"n/span 2013: $354,140 span class="bullet"n/span 2014: $375,089 span class="bullet"n/span 2015: $385,676/ppJefferson County occupancy tax revenues/ppspan class="bullet"n/span 2011: $852,390 span class="bullet"n/span 2012: $961,999 span class="bullet"n/span 2013: $964,183 span class="bullet"n/span 2014: $1,113,957 span class="bullet"n/span 2015: $902,963/p
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