Many visitors staying overnight in McKean County will now be hit with a 5-percent hotel room tax, a move approved by the county commissioners on Tuesday.
But representatives from The Lodge at Glendorn and Majestic Trails disagreed with the action, one of them saying that guests who have already made reservations will now have to pay more for their stay.
Effective Nov. 1, the hotel room rental tax for hotels and motels will increase from 3 percent to 5 percent, while cabins with running water and certain camps and conferences at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will now see a 5 percent tax. Cabins, as well as camps and conferences at colleges, were exempt before from such a tax.
“What it’s going to come down to is our guests receive a confirmation from us,” said Stephanie Schafer, general manager at The Lodge at Glendorn in Bradford Township. “And on that confirmation it states specifically this is your room rate and taxes. So if this is what we’ve given to all of our guests who are coming in, this is what they’re going to hold us to.”
Therefore, she questioned if officials at The Lodge at Glendorn would be expected to lower the room rates to offset the increased hotel room tax, which would impact revenue at the luxury resort.
Instead of having her wish granted to allow visitors grandfathered under the 3-percent hotel tax, county officials said no. Rather, a letter will be made available that makes visitors aware of the hotel tax law change, which is Act 18 approved earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Brenda Fitch of Majestic Trails has her own problems with the hotel room tax. She said the new law places a room tax on accommodations available at Majestic Trails, which had not before paid such a tax. The business is in Keating and Otto townships and has all-terrain vehicle trails and lodging.
“It’ll be fair because you have to look at it how the hotels have looked at it because we have been promoting your property using room taxes collected from the hotels,” said Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau Executive Director Linda Devlin. “So the campgrounds, the public lands, such as the national forest, the Kinzua Bridge State Park and other attractions such as museums are all promoted by the visitors bureau.”
The visitors bureau has a mission to bring visitors into McKean County, increase how long visitors stay and how much they spend here, Devlin said. And the hotel room tax increase will go toward continuing that mission.
“State tourism funding has been decreasing steadily for the past eight years, matching fund grants were eliminated, 5 percent set-aside grants were eliminated, state tourism promotion grants were eliminated, and most recently, regional marketing funds for the PA Wilds Marketing Corp. were eliminated,” she said in a prepared statement. “The ANF Visitors Bureau now receives zero state funding to market and promote McKean County.”
A 5-percent hotel room tax is a very small amount when compared to other parts of the state, Devlin said.
“The average four-year amount generated previously by McKean County room tax was $211,983 per year,” Devlin said. “The new ordinance, with the changes in amount and the addition of a few properties, is projected to increase the annual remittance of room tax to increase to $353,624. Of this projected amount, approximately $14,000 (.04 percent) will go to the county for administration.”
The increase in hotel room tax is expected to be $127,641 each year, Devlin said.
“Tourism direct spending in McKean County has increased through effective promotion and marketing,” Devlin added.
