WHEREAS the Hotel Room Tax Act allows municipalities and regional districts, as prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, to apply for Additional Hotel Room Tax AHRT to be levied on their behalf; AND WHEREAS Section 3.1 of the Hotel Room Tax Act Regulation permits local governments to collect an additional room tax of up to 2 on sales of accommodation in designated areas in order to assist municipalities and regional districts with tourism promotion; AND WHEREAS the Ministry of Finance has established its own criteria to evaluate AHRT applications, which includes demonstration from local governments that at least 51 of the accommodation sector supports the implementation of an additional 2 tax: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM lobby the Province of BC to ensure that the Province adheres to its own legislation, which does not require a benchmark of at least 51 of the accommodation sectors support in order to implement an additional 2 hotel tax.
