Sullivan room tax law amended

Politicians respond to hotelier’s complaints

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — In a move that will spare some hotel owners additional bookkeeping, lawmakers have voted to amend the room tax law that took effect June 1. Immediately after doing so, they voted to schedule a public hearing for August to further amend the law.

The initial law raised the room tax rate from two percent to five percent, and required that if hotels did not separate the cost of the room from other costs, such as those for meals or tennis facilities, then the tax must be collected on the entire hotel bill.

Some hotel owners protested sharply, claiming that the five percent tax was too high, and that separating the room cost from the rest of the bill was a hardship. Lawmakers relented. The amendment they passed on July 19 at the government center allows hotel owners to deduct up to 40 percent of a hotel bill for meals and other amenities offered; room tax for that portion of the bill will not be collected.

Some hotel-owners complained that this was not sufficient, and lawmakers agreed to consider yet another amendment, which would allow for up to 50 percent of a hotel bill to be excluded from the portion of the bill that is covered by the tax. That amendment is likely to pass next month.

Before the vote, Mark Kutsher, president of Kutsher’s Hotel and Country Club in Monticello, once again complained about the room tax, charging it puts his hotel at a disadvantage to those in other counties with little or no room tax such as Orange and Ulster.

Kutsher, who was formerly a member of the Sullivan County Visitors Association, also lashed out at that organization, which receives the revenue from the room tax. “I don’t get it,” he said. “That agency is not helpful to us; it doesn’t send anyone to our door.”

Others involved in the hotel industry said their customers were complaining about the room tax.

However, Shannon Armbrust, the general manager of the Lodge at Rock Hill, said her guests had not complained at the room tax increase and were not disgruntled. “They know that if they go to New York City or Myrtle Beach, they’ll pay 18 percent, so there has been no negative feedback.” As to the value of the visitors association, she said it is significant.

“They provide brochures, maps and other literature that I could never print myself; they take us to trade shows and offer other benefits-you just have to take advantage of what they offer,” she said.