Authorizes the village of Ellicottville to impose a hotel and motel tax
This bill authorizes the village of Ellicottville, in Cattaraugus County, to adopt local laws imposing a hotel and motel occupancy tax. The tax may apply to overnight lodging facilities, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and tourist accommodations, at a rate of up to 5 percent of the per diem room rental rate. Permanent residents—defined as guests staying 30 consecutive days or more—would be exempt.
The bill sets out the administrative framework for the local tax, including collection by the village’s chief fiscal officer, monthly or other periodic reporting, refund and review procedures, assessment limitations, and rules for legal challenges. It also specifies that certain governmental and nonprofit entities are exempt under existing tax law provisions. Revenue would be deposited into the village general fund, with up to 4 percent retained for administration and the remainder directed to community and economic development, planning, and tourism. The authorization would be temporary, lasting no more than three years per enactment, and the bill itself would expire on September 1, 2027.
If enacted, the bill would amend the Tax Law by adding a new village-specific authorization for Ellicottville to levy a local hotel and motel occupancy tax. It would not create a statewide tax, but instead grant a narrow home-rule style taxing power to one municipality, with detailed rules governing collection, exemptions, enforcement, refunds, and judicial review. The measure would affect lodging operators, visitors, and the village government, while channeling the resulting revenue toward local tourism and development purposes.
The available record shows no committee transcript, vote tally, or recorded opposition, so there is no direct evidence of debate or division in the materials provided. Based on the bill’s structure and purpose, the measure appears to be a local revenue and tourism-support bill, which is typically presented as a practical funding tool for a destination community. The absence of recorded votes or discussion suggests the bill was at least procedurally uncontroversial in the available history.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential issues inherent in the bill include the burden of an added occupancy tax on travelers and lodging businesses, the scope of the tax’s application to bed and breakfasts and tourist facilities, and how the revenue would be allocated between administration and broader community or tourism uses. However, no legislator, committee member, or stakeholder objection is included in the record supplied here.