During Monday’s Tourism Commission, Councilwoman Mary Knight sought the opinions of the Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association and the Ocean City Chamber of Commence on raising the room tax from 4.5 percent to 5 percent by summer 2018.
Wildwood and Myrtle Beach have 13 percent room tax, she said, while Atlantic City has the same tax plus a $5 per night charge and Virginia Beach has a 14 percent tax and a $2 per night charge.
“We feel that it wouldn’t hurt competitively,” Knight said. She added that the city’s staffing levels remain significantly less than they were when the room tax took effect in 2009, while the city’s revenues also declined despite the need to maintain the same levels of service.
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18 comments:
They should do like NJ and charge to go on the beach with beach tags.
There will come a tipping point where the money launderers who now own nearly every boardwalk business will find some other means of funneling their cash where greedy landlords and corrupt politicians don't take such a huge cut. 2 Sunsations per block with nothing over $5 dollars, hardly any customers but they move in and offer double the going rate in rent. The landlords and politicians know what's going on and turn a blind eye because it's getting them paid.
Feed the beast, mo money mo money.
"It’s time to start thinking about replacing the boards,” Knapp said."
It hasn't even been 10 years yet since the last replacement.
lay off some russian maids .
Not worth going to see thugs on the boardwalk.
No more hotel stays in OC for the family! Tired of getting ripped off by local and state government
7:26 good point,some cigarette smugglers charged owned some 10 businesses there.
Salisbury has 5 mattress and tire stores per mile tell me there isn't something fishy going on.
These proposals have no purpose other than to collect more revenue for pet projects like new fire engines, new fire boats, new life saving headquarter (uh, the life savers are all on the beach and don't need a conference room). Even Transportation pays the Convention center for meeting space except for the few times they "borrowed" an unused room at the Sewage plant. The justifications are ALL the same: I found somebody in Appalachia that charges more for condoms so we should raise the price of our condoms.
In a period where gas is getting cheaper, people will drive much further as an alternative to high prices in OC.
Tourists won't notice the difference.
8:13 that is known as having all the signs of being a ghetto.
Easy.....everbody gets tired of driving......see how it works?
You bitch about FF unyil you need them.
Do these bureaucrats sit around every off-season and think about how they can squeeze more dollars out of locals and tourists?
Little by little, they increase taxes and fees until the tipping point.
Like putting a frog in a pot of water: turn up the burner quickly, and he'll jump out; but, turn it up slowly and he'll sit there until he cooks.
Sound like OC municipal economic policy?
With residential sprinklers required FF jobs are going to be needed less and less. Isn't that the purpose of a sprinkler system, to stop a fire before the fire department arrives?
Keep charging City Hall and never address the program of mid week vacancies. HRMA Jones stated OC having the highest average daily room rate compared to others - $131.05. Another tax, another higher "AVERAGE" rate. (need to remember, the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows equate the average....so no folks, hotel rates are NOT 131.05)
Simple economics here says this cannot continue. Again, vacancies abound in 2016 mid week (EMPTY ROOMS) doesn't help - yet you have the highest AVERAGE room rates. Included are the tried/true and tired/ageless holes in the wall like the Thunderbird (mid July mid T-F $157-167, F-S $212-222), Sea Scape (now closed), Crystal Sands (mid July T-F at $149-169 F-S jumping to $255), Sahara's $129 1 block off, $219 oceanfront; $20 bucks more on weekends), Empress, Eden Roc, Ocean Mecca, Kings Arms, Casablanca, etc etc etc. Imagine the prices at the big chains, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott.
City Hall and others WONDER why folks are flocking away to VA beach, NC, SC and EVEN Delaware. HELLO? Houses, personal beaches, NO TRAFFIC and best - no THUGS!!!
8:45 If every building in the country had sprinklers installed we would still have the same amount of FF we have now. They would think of some reason to be kept around. Remember when we had just teachers with classrooms of 25 or more students. Now we have teachers and teaching assistants and fewer children in the classroom.
The Broadwalk is looking like NJ.
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