Hotel audit to include Airbnb
Floyd County commissioners approve a contract that includes educating lodging providers on state law requirements.
Floyd County Commissioners appeared to expect new sources of revenue Tuesday when they approved an audit contract with Revenue Discovery Systems on hotel/motel taxes.
There’s a 6-percent tax per night on lodgings in the unincorporated area, if the stay is less than 30 days. The Georgia Department of Revenue gets 4 percent of that.
“If you lease your house, if you lease your garage, if you do Airbnb, it’s covered under state law,” County Manager Jamie McCord said.
RDS, based in Birmingham, Alabama, will be looking at property records, online activity and other sources of data to determine if all applicable taxes are being paid.
Finance Director Susie Gass said the company has over 200 clients for hotel/ motel tax audits and a reputation for professionalism. In addition to examining the financials, the contract has an education component.
The tax is not an assessment against a business, she said, but a levy they’re supposed to be collecting from their customers.
“A lot of people don’t know that,” Gass said. “If a business hasn’t been collecting it, we won’t be going back and charging them for it. But (RDS) will educate them about the requirements going forward.”
Commissioner Wright Bagby Jr. added a caveat: “If they have been collecting it and not remitting it, we will be going after that.”
McCord said the company would give businesses 30 days to prepare before a meeting to go over their books. A report is expected sometime this fall. The county collected just over $100,000 last year from the lodging venues operating in the unincorporated area.
In other actions Tuesday, the board heard from 911 Director John Blalock on a new law creating a central authority for local government 911 centers around the state.
Starting in January, the Georgia Emergency Authority will get all the 911 fees and distribute them to the counties. Prepaid phone card users will pay $1.50 instead of 75 cents, matching the fee on other phone services. And providers won’t be able to charge back their costs for the hardware and software needed to direct 911 calls to the right center.
Blalock said the county would see about $170,000 in additional revenue due to the changes, “which comes pretty close to balancing our 911 budget.”
Commissioner Allison Watters expressed concern about the potential diversion of Floyd County’s fees and Bagby said the involvement of the Department of Revenue introduced an element of secrecy. The GDOR has balked at showing tax data, contending it could reveal a business’ trade secrets.
Blalock said specifics are still being worked out. However, the legislation creating the authority — mainly local government representatives — appears to give it the power to audit collections and earmark the fees for 911 centers alone.
“Any time there’s something new, it takes a while to get the kinks worked out,” Commission Chair Rhonda Wallace said. “But we’re moving in the right direction.”