I hope everyone is enjoying this Western New York summer. I look forward every year to the many festivals, concerts, and summer gatherings in our communities. This year it was my honor to participate in the 200th bicentennial celebration of the Town of Newstead, walk in the Old Home Days parade, and help with the rejuvenated Day in the Park Independence Day festivities in Clarence.
Summer also brings the height of tourism season to our region. Like most regions, Erie County collects an occupancy tax for each paid night at area hotels and motels. Of the total amount collected, 31% of that tax goes to Visit Buffalo Niagara or the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. to help promote tourism in the region and keep that economic driver moving forward. The imposition of the tax is 3% for every room or rooms rented for less than thirty days. If the rental capacity of the location exceeds 30 rooms, then the rate of the tax on occupancy is 5%.
While most WNY counties have updated their laws to the digital age and are applying the occupancy tax equally to online room rental sites, such as Airbnb and VRBO, Erie County is just coming around to address this discrepancy. Unfortunately, rather than designing a clean bill, the backroom bureaucrats that crafted the law snuck in additional language that mandates 100% of all future bed taxes collected to be redistributed to our local tourism agencies in perpetuity. This provision limits the ability of future legislatures to appropriate the revenue as they see fit, essentially tying the hands of future independently elected lawmakers. As Erie County Legislators, we are shucking our responsibilities as the fiscal house of Erie County if the body votes to impose a tax without any accountability as to how it’s spent. We are stewards of your tax dollars and as such, county legislators, present and future, should apply funds as the body sees fit to best benefit the county.
Additionally, the current allocation of bed tax funds and efforts of Visit Buffalo Niagara are somewhat city centric. That is, the communities I serve, which have many cultural, architectural and recreational attractions, are typically overlooked for this funding and promotion. The towns of Amherst, Clarence, Newstead, and the villages within, have much to offer, as do the other towns across Erie County. Any investment in tourism promotion using bed tax revenue needs to include all these communities.
Lastly, we concluded mid-year budget hearings this past week where we heard from department heads, other county-wide elected officials and the Administration to ensure spending for the different departments and offices are in line with what was budgeted halfway through 2023. Overall, Erie County it on track for another healthy budget surplus for 2023. After budget surpluses of $175 million in 2021 and $96 million in 2022, it is clear that we are overtaxing residents, and we should push for a property tax correction to the levy for the 2024 budget.
I want to congratulate Clarence Center’s own Gavin McCarthy on being drafted 86th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. I would also like to congratulate Williamsville North graduate Brendan Morse on being selected by the Texas Rangers in the 2023 MLB draft. As a hockey and baseball coach and father, it is always great to see when some of our local stars make it big.
If you have any county related issue, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at 716-858-8676, or by email Christopher.Greene@erie.gov
