"These municipalities provide additional services because of the presence of hotels within their boundaries. Property-tax payers need relief, and municipalities need additional non-property-tax sources of revenue to fund basic services," Assemblyman Tom Abinanti said.
The New York State Legislature recently passed legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh/Mt. Pleasant) and Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) that would provide local municipalities with an additional non-property tax source of revenue to fund basic and necessary services.
The legislation (A.992/S.4281) authorizes eight local governments (Town of Greenburgh, Villages of Tarrytown, Elmsford, Sleepy Hollow, Ardsley, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry and Hastings-on-Hudson) to collect a hotel/motel occupancy tax of up to 3%. To provide some flexibility, the bill affords each municipality the ability to share in the tax collection process.
“This will ease the burden on local property tax payers by imposing a user fee on out-of-towners who benefit from using public services provided by our towns and villages,” said Abinanti. “It was an extraordinary joint effort led by Senator Stewart-Cousins, the Westchester Assembly delegation and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to help these Westchester localities that have been hit hard by rising costs and tax cap restraints.”
“With passage of this bill, once signed into law by the Governor, Greenburgh will be able to tap into this revenue-raising alternative to local property taxes,” said Senator Stewart-Cousins, the Senate Democratic Leader. “The town joins White Plains, New Rochelle, and Rye in collecting a small percentage of the sum hotel visitors pay to stay, adding up to several hundreds of thousands of dollars within a year.”
The bill now awaits the Governor’s approval.