Hotel and resort fees have been a well talked about topic over the past few years, especially as Las Vegas Strip hotels are now charging up to per night in fees. Over in Akwesasne, a over-night fee was tacked on to hotel bills at the Mohawk Casino Resort starting in September 2013, as well as Comfort Inn in the spring of 2014.
It has been estimated those fees could reach as high as $816,000 in total for 2015. A news release from the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council announced the program brings in an average of $68,000 per month. The collected funds go towards school programs and activities, as well as community projects.
For more than three years, Franklin County has attempted to gain permission from the state legislature, which would allow them to collect a 5 percent occupancy tax on overnight guests. Each year, they have failed. In June, the Assembly passed the measure, but the state Senate did not take the issue up before the members retired for the year.
Gordon Crossman, chairman of the County Legislature’s Economic and Development and Planning Committee in Malone wants the state to act as soon as possible, but some say Governor Andrew Cuomo will not agree to the measure.
“I really don’t accept that the governor would veto it,” Crossman stated. “I think that is being used as a means of avoiding it.” He added that they are one of the only counties currently without a bed tax. Crossman insists the tax actually helps the residents of Franklin County, who are “dying for economic development,” and “need money from tourism”.
So where exactly does the money collected from the overnight fees go? Last year, the Akwesane Boys and Girls Club was given $38,000 to purchase a van, which has been used for transporting the kids to extra-curricular activities and after-school care. In addition, the Early Childhood Development Program received $22,000 for their Head Start Program.
With the help of a $20,000 grant, all of which come from the room-occupancy funds, the Salmon River School District is in the process of developing a two-year welding program in conjunction with the Franklin-Essec-Hamilton BOCES.
