Hotel taxes generating millions

WEST CHESTER » For the past 19 years, the Hotel Room Rental Excise tax adopted by the county commissioners has generated just under $37 million in revenue, which benefits the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau to promote tourism. In the past eight years alone, the hotel tax generated $22 million, according to county records.

The tax is mandatory, but the county does not send bills to hotels. Treasurer Patricia Maisano announced recently that hotels would soon be audited to ensure the county gets paid.

“Hotels are required to disclose ownership of their business and register with the county,” said County Commissioner Michelle Kichline. “As with state sales tax, the hotels are required to collect the hotel tax and then remit it to the county.”

The Treasurer’s Office boasts 11 full-time employees and one part-time employee. Maisano requested and was granted permission to add a new employee skilled in analyzing hotel taxes.

“We are confident in the leadership of county department heads who ensure that their departments provide the professional service expected, and we welcome discussions with them when the need for a review of full and part-time positions becomes necessary,” Kichline said.

The tax rate for hotel room occupancy was 2 percent in 1999, and was raised to 3 percent in 2013, and finally to 5 percent last year. Airbnbs qualify as a business that is required to collect and remit the hotel room tax if it is a building in which the public obtains sleeping quarters, according to Susan Hamley, executive director or the Conference and Visitors Bureau.

In late 2012, then-Chester County Treasurer Ann Duke recommended to the commissioners the establishment of a municipal tax collection and in 2013, this was approved and implemented. The number of participating municipalities has steadily increased, and there are now 21 municipalities, and Maisano expects to bring on many more.

The county can only collect from municipalities if they do not

have an elected tax collector or if the elected tax collector deputizes the county to collect on his or her behalf, Kichline said.

Fees for dog licenses, hunting licenses sportsman’s

pistol permits and small games of chance permits also are under the purview of the treasurer’s office. Dog license fees range between $4.50 and $8.50 annually or between $21.50 and $51.50 lifetime if microchipped. Sportsman’s pistol permits are $6 and are good for five years, and small games of chance

permits can go up to $100 per event. These fees are set by the state, not the county, and the county receives a small fee for administering and issuing those licenses.

The hotel room tax is collected by lodging properties based on occupancy. The tax is paid by people staying in a hotel or Bed and Breakfast.