Read My Lips.... NO NEW TAXES, (NOT)

Municipal Corporation Hotel Rental Tax

Most counties have been authorized by State law to impose a hotel rental tax. Authorized rates vary by county, from as low as 3 percent in Frederick County to as high as 8 percent in Allegany and Baltimore counties. Harford County does not impose a hotel rental tax. Senate Bill 131 (passed) authorizes municipal corporations to impose a hotel rental tax under specified circumstances, at a rate not to exceed 2 percent. The tax may not be imposed by a municipal corporation that has a current hotel rental tax revenue sharing agreement with the county it is located in, is located in a county that does not impose a hotel rental tax, or is located in a county that distributes at least 50 percent of hotel rental taxes collected to promote tourism in the county. The bill requires that a municipal corporation imposing the tax distribute to a convention and visitors bureau in the county where the municipal corporation is located at least the same percentage of the hotel rental tax collected that the county distributes to the convention and visitors bureau from any county hotel rental tax.