(Image from Northern Bruce Peninsula website.)
Northern Bruce Peninsula is expanding its Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).
Council approved the expansion to include hotels, motels, hostels, cabins, cottages, and bed and breakfasts, while excluding marinas and campgrounds during a meeting on March 11.
This comes after council had requested a report on expanding the MAT in January. The MAT was first implemented in 2021 for short-term accommodations (STA) to regulate and licence the properties.
In a Feb. 26, meeting council also discussed the possibility of reducing the tax from four per cent to two per cent, but council ultimately decided to keep it at four.
Coun. Todd Dowd says, “we have heard a lot from commercial operators who are against this tax and we heard earlier in the year the Tobermory Chamber of Commerce was also against this tax, even though it will benefit them. I have heard from a lot of people complaining about broadening the MAT, but we have yet to hear means to replace it.”
In a report from the Tobermory Chamber of Commerce council received at the same meeting, the chamber brought in over $173,000 from the MAT last year. Under the MAT agreement, the municipality provides half of the net MAT revenue to the chamber to support local tourism.
A report from Treasurer Teresa Shearer says the expansion of the program will result in increased revenue of $350,0000 to $400,000.
The expanded MAT will come into effect at the start of 2025.
Coun. Laurie Golden says, “it gives out some time to sort a lot of this stuff out, get people ready for it.”
