‘The view of adding a four per cent tax, to me, is roughly offensive, barely frankly,’ says one councillor, who added the tax ‘appears to be like tone deaf’
A majority of Midland council members narrowly handed a motion to explore the capacity for increasing a resort tax in town.
The Municipal Lodging Tax (MAT) used to be on the agenda staunch thru a most modern typical assembly of Midland council, thru a personnel memoir which suggested that a MAT working neighborhood be established to produce enter on a draft bylaw for stakeholder consideration, with personnel reporting aid to council in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Municipalities got authority by the province in 2017 to levy a resort tax, equipped the MAT revenues are shared with a no longer-for-revenue tourism organization with a tourism mandate; the volume shared could possibly even simply quiet be 50 percent of the tax less affordable administration costs.
For Midland, it could possibly probably possibly mean barely an consumption. Estimates were calculated in the personnel memoir for the roughly 407 resort and motel rooms in town; with annual occupancy and minimal day-to-day rates on the MAT, roughly $120,000 could possibly run to the eligible tourism entity whereas the many $120,000 would return to town.
Concerns were raised by members of council to the tax, first introduced forward by Coun. Bill Gordon who had been talking with upset neighborhood members, who would be directly suffering from the loosely calculated four per cent MAT.
“The view of adding a four per cent tax, to me, is roughly offensive, barely frankly. I know that virtually definitely the predominant folk in the resort and hospitality industry are equally dismayed that we’re even talking about this staunch now; it appears to be like tone deaf,” said Gordon, who urged a MAT working neighborhood shouldn’t extinguish personnel time.
It used to be a sentiment echoed by others, collectively with Deputy Mayor Mike Ross and Coun. Jim Downer, who felt that adding a tax onto businesses convalescing from the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t the staunch ingredient to possess.
Employees equipped a definite view, as per their memoir. Andy Campbell, govt director of atmosphere and infrastructure, defined that it used to be a tool equipped by the province to support increase cash, looking on whether a municipality chooses to make employ of it or no longer.
“This tax is no longer for the residents of Midland, because they can all decline it if they were to cease in the neighborhood in a resort,” Campbell acknowledged. “It’s taxing the vacationers that advance to town, and (cultural kind co-ordinator Karen Mealing) has written on this memoir the rates that are being charged in the neighborhood, that are valuable.”
In the memoir, 17 assorted municipalities were listed as having done a MAT, collectively with Barrie, Orillia, Huntsville, Toronto, Kingston and Niagara Falls.
“We’re no longer talking $80 an evening resort rooms in town anymore; they’re in the many of of bucks,” Campbell noted. “And for a tourist so as to add $20 to their cease, or $10 or no topic it’s some distance at risk of be looking on the rate, would that in actual fact deter a tourist coming to town?”
In the City of Barrie, the MAT is a four per cent levy on room rates at accommodations, motels and AirBnBs. Entire MAT revenues for accommodations and AirBnBs totalled $1.2 million in 2019, dropped to almost $665,000 in 2020, and were almost $250,000 from January to June 2021. Tourism Barrie will continue to be the series agent, on behalf of the City of Barrie, because the metropolis’s ‘tourism entity’ to receive 50 per cent of the MAT.
For Midland, Campbell noted the most modern Ontario’s Entirely Butter Tart Festival used to be a $40,000 influence on the tax defective in town’s budget, and that a MAT tax could possibly duvet that value.
Mayor Stewart Strathearn identified that whereas Gordon had been talking with some who felt they is at risk of be negatively impacted by a MAT, assorted industry businesses were coming out of certain annual revenues; he raised his improve to understand a MAT working neighborhood explore all aspects of the local resort and motel industry providing their enter. A whole lot of on council agreed.
Council voted to raise the personnel recommendation. The MAT working neighborhood will procure representatives collectively with two from the municipality, three from local sights, three from lodging and one marketing consultant from the County of Simcoe.