A municipal accommodation tax in South Bruce Peninsula is closer to reality.
The tax will cover most everyone who rents primarily in the summer in the municipality.
Mayor Janice Jackson says most municipalities charge accommodation taxes and South Bruce Peninsula is looking at a 4% surcharge beginning this summer.
Jackson says 2% of the revenue will go into the tourism budget and 2% will be used to help enhance recreational sites in the community.
The mayor states, “The municipal accommodation tax will also be applicable to private cottage rentals as well like Airbnb’s, and because they are not commercial entities, they are going to be licenced by the town.”
Those that pay commercial taxes will be exempt from the licence fee but for the other rentals there will be a reasonable licence fee that will be applied each year, over and above the 4% surcharge they will be charging their customers.
The cost of the licence fee is not known at this time but Mayor Jackson says it will not be “punitive.”
She says they want to better control the private cottage rental industry because over the last few years, they’ve been getting a lot of complaints about income properties and having renters that are noisy and careless.
Council directed that the necessary by-law to establish a municipal accommodation tax be placed on an upcoming Council agenda for consideration.
The by-law which will be considered will not include campgrounds; this means that campgrounds will be exempt from municipal accommodation taxes.