Time for Ulster to act on short-term rental tax

Dear Editor: In response to the article “Ulster County comptroller plans audits of short-term rental industry,” Jan. 25, 2020:

It’s disturbing to hear the Ulster County government cannot move ahead on voluntary tax agreements (VTAs).

The former comptroller, Elliott Auerbach, did his diligence in offering the VTA between the county and short-term rental companies, like Airbnb. Some in the county Legislature agreed with this approach, but nothing was done. The new comptroller apparently agrees.

The booking for these shortterm rentals is done through the web and managed online. When the customer pays, the company should collect the bed tax and send it quarterly to the county, automatically eliminating the cost of accounting. But that’s not how Ulster County does it.

What we have now is the county spending money with an outside agency looking for short-term rental properties to bring them in compliance.

By not allowing the shortterm rental agencies to collect the tax, the onus is on the rental owner. How does the rental owner collect the tax? Not on the website where his customers book and pay; he has to collect it when the renters arrive. What a nightmare for the owners. No wonder there isn’t 100 percent compliance. How backward can Ulster County government get?

Ulster County government must step forward. It must correct its mistake, cut its losses, stop paying a Utah company to scour the rental offerings, and let the rental agencies collect the bed tax.

Attention, county Legislature: Take Auerbach’s resolution, amend it, sponsor it and get 12 members to vote for it. Better yet, get 16 votes, so the measure will be veto-proof.

Not only will you be saving money ,but you will be collecting more bed tax to be used for tourism in Ulster County, which is what this revenue is intended to do.

Carl Belfiglio Hurley

The writer is a former Ulster County legislator.