Town officials have secured a law that allows Harrison to implement an occupancy tax on hotel and motel occupants.
Harrison—one of eight municipalities in Westchester County given the authority to levy the 3 percent occupancy tax on Dec. 31, 2016—is expected to generate more than $300,000 in annual revenue from the tax, according to Councilman Stephen Malfitano, a Republican.
Malfitano said that money generated through the tax will be placed in an account set aside for capital improvements or will likely be used to maintain the town with basic services, which generally include public safety, education and utilities. “This is a big deal for us,” he said. “Anything we can do to fund municipal services is certainly welcome.”
There are currently two hotels in the town/village of Harrison: the Renaissance Westchester Hotel, which is located at 80 West Red Oak Lane, and the Hyatt House on Westchester Avenue. However, the tax is also implemented on country clubs and will also impact Westchester Country Club on North Street.
The desirability of the hotel tax for local governments is that it aids municipalities in generating revenue outside of the need to increase property taxes on local residents, since most patrons of hotels are from outside of the community.
“It’s finally come to fruition in a time when it’s really much needed,” said Malfitano, who explained that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for communities’ municipal budgets to remain below the tax cap in recent years.
While the town has remained under the state-mandated tax cap for six consecutive years, most of Harrison’s funding put forward in its $59.2 million budget this fiscal year comes from property taxes—approximately 77 percent. For this fiscal year, the town recently approved a 1.5 percent tax increase.
“Right now, we don’t have an earmark to help lower our taxes,” said Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican. “Any amount of revenue would help us.”
Other local municipalities that already impose the hotel tax include the village of Rye Brook, and the cities of New Rochelle, Yonkers, White Plains, and neighboring Rye—the first municipality in the county that was given the authority to levy the tax in 2006. Westchester County also implements a 3 percent occupancy tax of its own.
The city of Rye generates approximately $80,000 in annual revenue from the tax on its only hotel within city boundaries, the Courtyard Rye Marriot, which is located at 631 Midland Ave.
On Dec. 31, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, authorized the tax in the municipalities of Tuckahoe, North Castle, Mamaroneck, Port Chester, Dobbs Ferry, Greenburgh and Hastings-On-Hudson.
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 the fiscal year 2020.
