YORK COUNTY — The York County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $2 per room for overnight visitors as part of a Transient Occupancy Tax to be distributed solely for local tourism and travel related purposes.
In 2004, the Virginia General Assembly passed Bill Number SB 652, which authorized York County to apply an additional Transient Occupancy Tax of $2 per room per night.
Transient occupancy tax is a 5 percent tax on rentals of rooms in hotels, motels or other temporary lodging of less than 30 days. The businesses would then pay the amounts collected each month to the county’s Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office.
The tax does not apply to rooms rented and continuously occupied by the same person for less than 30 days.
One-half of the revenues generated from each night of a transient’s occupancy goes toward the Historic Triangle Marketing Fund, which is used to market and advertise the Historic Triangle as a tourist destination.
The remaining one-half revenue received by the county is designated to the Tourism Fund.
The 2020 General Assembly adopted Senate Bill 588, which took effect May 1, 2021 and requires a minor change to York County’s transient occupancy tax ordinance.
In a York County Memorandum from May 3, County Administrator Neil A. Morgan said that “effective May 1, any locality levying such a tax in excess of 5 percent, must state in its ordinance that the excess shall be so designated for tourism and travel.”
Morgan said that the proposed Ordinance No. 21-11 does this.
The board approved the proposed ordinance to amend the York County code during Tuesday, Aug. 17’s meeting.