Common Council president Tom DePietro has twice mentioned in public meetings the intention to increase the lodging tax in Hudson by 1 percent. The current lodging tax charged to guests in the city's hotels and short-term rentals is 4 percent. The revenue from the 1 percent increase is to be dedicated to the Housing Trust Fund.
When the lodging tax was established in 2017, a percentage of the revenue from the lodging tax, not to exceed $250,000, was to go to the Tourism Board, which, according to the law, was "empowered to take all reasonable steps it determines desirable, necessary and proper to market the City of Hudson as a destination for overnight and day-trip visitors." In 2020, the law was amended, eliminating funding for the Tourism Board and directing all revenue from the lodging tax into the general fund. At the beginning of 2022, the Tourism Board ceased to exist, replaced by the Tourism & Events Committee of the Common Council, later to become the Events Committee, whose sole purpose is to divvy up whatever funds are allocated that year for festivals and events by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA). This year, that amount was $30,000.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CAROLE OSTERINK
Carole - I've lost track. About how much money are we talking about? $30K for the tourism. 5%. Is that a lot of the money? Sorry, I lost track of the whole tax thing. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTo address your questions: No money is going toward tourism. Note that the word “Tourism” has been deleted from the name of the committee that divvies up the $30,000. This year, the money went to events that don’t necessarily bring in any tourism dollars: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus ($1,500); FASNY Firefighting Museum Dalmatian Day ($500); Hudson Festival Orchestra ($1,000); Hudson Halloween Parade ($500); Juneteenth ($2,500); Flag Day ($5,000); Sankofa Black Arts and Cultural Festival ($5,000); Hudson Hall Winter Walk ($2,500); Latinx Parade and Festival ($2,500); Park Theater Second Saturdays ($3,000); OutHudson Parade ($2,500).
DeleteThe amount—$30,000—is not very much. For close to twenty years, some entity of the Common Council, originally it was the Arts, Entertainment & Tourism Committee, annually divided up $20,000 to $25,000 among events taking place in Hudson. Of course, in 2020, the reimagined Tourism Board, flush with lodging tax revenue, doled out close to half a million dollars to projects that could not demonstrate they attracted visitors to Hudson.
Regarding the money now being proposed to go to the Housing Trust Fund: Based on records I could locate online, the revenue from the lodging tax in 2022 was $569,249. That was from a 4 percent lodging tax. A quarter of that, or 1 percent, is $146,312. That means a 1 percent increase in the lodging tax dedicated to the Housing Trust Fund would potentially amount to about $150,000, but Tom DePietro has mentioned a $100,000 cap on the amount going to the HTF.
Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think perhaps Tom is sucking up to a certain someone who's dating (is that the word?) another certain someone who is highly placed at the HTF. But that wouldn't happen, would it? Of course, it requires the state legislature's approval to raise the tax rate and they only deal w/ these issues 2 times each year, so it may be a while before any earnest sucking begins.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a shame Tom has made no effort to enforce the current rules against the Airbnb units who never bothered to register with the city and who should currently be paying their fair share of lodging taxes plus penalties. Instead, he seeks to punish those who DID comply when the lodging tax law by increasing their taxes. Seems unfair.
ReplyDeleteWhy not make absolutely certain the City of Hudson is collecting what it should be collecting under the current lodging tax rules first? A casual observer who just opens the Airbnb or Vrbo app will easily be able to spot uncollected lodging taxes without changing the current tax rate at all.
Actually, in June, the City hired an administrative assistant to handle short-term rental registration. One of the responsibilities of the job is to ensure STR compliance, which includes collecting the City's lodging tax. From comments made in public meetings, I get the sense this person may be reporting to Michelle Tullo, the Housing Justice Director.
DeleteThanks Carole. Looking at my comment, I didn’t mean to imply that Tom is responsible for enforcement. He’s not. And I’m glad the new Administrative Assistant is focused on these issues.
DeleteBut one more thing is worth mentioning: the way the short term rental law is currently drafted, it doesn’t allow Airbnb hosts who failed to register immediately when the law was new to “come in out of the cold” or to have amnesty when they register without getting hit with huge penalties. Instead, the law is very punitive and therefore, out of reach of those who might want to “do the right thing.” The council would do well to sweeten the pot and encourage Airbnb hosts who maybe didn’t have their act together when the law was new to now register going forward.
The person enforcing the STR law reports to the Housing Justice Director . . . well that makes perfect sense (to someone). The organizational flowchart of this City government must look like a spider's web. I'm shocked nothing is getting done except taxes raised (though I'd point out that lodging taxes are well understood to a) be the obligation of the guest, not the host, and b) have no effect on room vacancies or demand (IOW, room demand is inelastic as to lodging taxes). But the entire undertaking is comedy. Sad comedy but comedy nonetheless.
DeleteCarole, it appears that's correct- at the June 2023 regular meeting, the Council voted to approve a resolution transferring funds totaling $15,000 from the Treasurer's office to the Mayor's Office Staff for funding this Compliance Coordinator position, and the resolution noted "WHEREAS, while the budgeted funds were initially included in the treasurer’s budget, it was mutually agreed by both the Treasurer’s office and the Office of the Mayor that the position more logically fit under the Housing Justice Director [...]"
Deletehttps://cms3.revize.com/revize/hudsonny/Common%20Council/Agendas%20Meeting%20Documents/2023/June/2023%20STR%20Admin%20budget%20transfer.pdf