If you have out-of-town family members who stay in Amherst hotels while visiting, they might face a new tax on their trips in the future.
The town is considering a new 2.5% bed tax on short-term rentals, including hotels, motels and Airbnbs. For context, on a $130 per night hotel room, which is the average cost in Amherst, the consumer would pay $3.25 in a bed tax.
Next week, the Amherst Town Board will vote on asking the state’s permission to issue the tax. However, asking the state’s permission is just the first step. It could be months before the town sits down for a final vote to implement the tax.
Amherst Town Supervisor Shawn Lavin said this could generate roughly $2.7 million a year for the municipality, based on current occupancy statistics. If the local law is passed, 25% of this revenue would go into improvements for town amenities, including the Northtown Center, and 75% into the general operating fund.
“That target number at 2.5 [percent tax] kind of got us to that position where enough could be invested into our community assets, but leaving enough in the general fund for you know, if things expand, we can have and grow our employee base there," Lavin said. "It gives us enough kind of [a] gray area to work in there."
Erie County already has its own bed tax, so Amherst hotel owners would have two bed taxes if Amherst implements one. Lavin said hotel owners he has talked to weren’t thrilled, but he believes they understand the value.
“When I did tell them that in the law, we are reallocating this money to places like the Northtown Center, which, by the way, drives customers to their establishments, they were a little bit more OK with this," he said.
