EDITORIAL: Local bed tax still a bargain

May 01, 2008 04:00 am

— As Clinton County considers a tax on room occupancy in its hotels, popularly called a "bed tax," it's interesting to note that neighboring states impose a state, as well as a local, tax of that kind.
If legislators are concerned about a competitive disadvantage created by imposing a bed tax, they needn't. Vermont and New Jersey already impose one.
The tax would not be a contribution to the county's general fund to plow roads or pay Motor Vehicle clerks. It would be directed specifically to attract tourists to Clinton County.
So far, it works very well in Essex County, another high-tourism area. Lake Placid and the Town of North Elba are the dominant collectors of the revenue and the dominant recipients of the tourism promotions.
The local bed tax makes a lot of sense for Clinton County. Tourism is plentiful and becoming more so. Just considering the 10 fishing tournaments held in and around Plattsburgh last year, adding a tax on room occupancy creates a significant pool of money to go toward winning more tourists, and at no cost to local taxpayers.
Vermont charges a sales tax of 6 percent on hotel rooms. New York and Clinton County combined charge 7.75 percent. In addition to that, Vermont charges a state bed tax of 9 percent plus 1 percent local, for a total of 10 percent for a room tax. Clearly, tourists to this area would not be provoked into running off to Vermont for a room by imposition of a county bed tax.
A recent stay of one night by a local couple in a hotel in Wrightstown, N.J., in the shadow of the gate at McGuire Air Force Base, yielded the following bill:
Room charge, $108.
New Jersey state sales tax, 7 percent, $7.56.
New Jersey state occupancy fee, 5 percent, $5.40.
Municipal occupancy fee, 3 percent, $3.24.
In-room safe (whether used or not), $1.
New Jersey sales tax on the safe, 7 percent, 7 cents.
The total bill of $125.27 is entirely reasonable for a clean, well-appointed room south of Metropolitan New York. The imposition of the taxes and fees is by no means an inhibiting factor.
Clinton County is proposing a bed tax of 3 percent, an amount insignificant to the out-of-towners paying it but, cumulatively, a bonanza of tourism promotion expected to amount to $300,000 a year for county taxpayers. It is actually an investment for the operators of the hotels and motels in the area, who should see new prosperity from the advertising it will buy.
And New York state doesn't impose an occupancy tax of its own, meaning local hostelries are still a bargain compared with adjacent states.
The county bed-tax proposal is a winner for everyone.