Board doubles tax on county tourists

Commissioners approve two percent hike on hotel room tax

NORRISTOWN >> Tourists and visitors to Montgomery County will have to reach a few dollars deeper into their pockets when they book a night in one of the county’s 74 hotels.

County commissioners approved a 2 percent hike on the Hotel Room Rental Tax, doubling the current 2 percent rate to 4 percent.

“The 2 percent increase in the county’s lodging tax is pass-through, not paid by either the businesses or the residents of Montgomery County. It comes from out-of-county visitors who stay in our hotels,” said Mike Bowman, president and CEO of the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board.

The measure passed with a 2-1 vote, with Commissioner Joe Gale denouncing the increase.

“I think when they come, they leave their stay in a hotel, the vast majority of them leave thinking they paid enough to justify their stay through fees and taxes,” Gale said. “And that’s who I represent as the minority commissioner, the forgotten taxpayer.”

The tax increase was requested by the Tourism and Convention Board under Pennsylvania’s Act 18, passed this year, which allows the county to raise the hotel tax up to 5 percent. Bowman, said that the tourism board would consider asking for that additional percent increase at a later date.

The tax would apply to hotel rooms rented in the county’s hotels. According to the tourism board, the hotel room rate average in the county is $119 per night. For a room of that rate, the tax would go from its current $2.38 to $4.76 per night.

Bowman had discussed the measure at a November meeting of the commissioners, with letters of support from business owners and hoteliers.

“You’ve assured me on a number of occasions that you’ve reached out to those individuals in the county and that everyone views this as a win-win,” Commissioner Chairwoman Val Arkoosh said to Bowman before voting for the increase.

The proceeds from the tax would go to benefit the board and help expand the marketing of Montgomery County as a tourist destination.

“Our goal for the increased resources is to deepen the economic impact of tourism in the county, market our area nationally and internationally as there is a lot of international tourism right now, support our great county assets and implement one of the best arts and culture brands in the entire Northeast,” Bowman said.

Bowman made a pledge to the commissioners that if the tax increase does not yield a “strong economic impact” on tourism in the county in the next two years, that he would personally back lowering the tax back to 2 percent.

Shapiro called the measure a “no-brainer,” and expressed confidence in the board’s ability to leverage the additional funds to draw more tourism revenue to the county.

“It makes to give you the opportunity to compete, particularly when it’s not Montgomery County taxpayers paying this tax,” he said.