State officials have once again secured a law that allows the city of Rye to implement an occupancy tax on hotel and motel occupants.
Rye —the first municipality in Westchester County given the authority to levy the 3 percent occupancy tax back in 2006—generates approximately $80,000 in annual revenue from the tax.
Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat, explained that money generated through the tax has been used to maintain the city with basic services, which include items pertaining to public safety, education, or in the nature of hygiene. “It’s definitely an important revenue stream in the city of Rye,” he said.
The Courtyard Rye Marriot, which is located on 631 Midland Ave., is currently the only hotel within city boundaries. However, the tax is also implemented on country clubs in the city such as the Apawamis Club, located on 2 Club Road, and the Rye Golf Club located on 330 Boston Post Road, according to Latimer.
The desirability of the occupancy tax for local governments is that it provides municipalities with the ability to generate revenue outside of the need to increase property taxes on local residents, since most patrons of hotels are from outside the community.
Other local municipalities that already impose a similar hotel tax include the village of Rye Brook, and the cities of New Rochelle, Yonkers and White Plains. Westchester County also implements a 3 percent hotel tax of its own.
According to state law, the hotel tax has a three-year sunset clause attached to it, meaning that it must be renewed by the state in fiscal year of 2018. The villages of Tuckahoe, Harrison, Port Chester and Mamaroneck, as well as the town of North Castle, are all pending approval to impose a hotel tax by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, as of press time.
