Erie County Council on Tuesday approved the proposed increase on the hotel tax with all six members of council voting in favor of the two percent hotel tax increase for Erie County.
For months now, an increase in hotel tax has been talked about, and just about 60 days after Governor Tom Corbett signed the tax increase for the state, county council has agreed to enact it in Erie.
The previous rate was five percent. Its now been bumped up to seven. This extra two percent will go directly to VisitErie to promote and market tourism for the area year round, something they currently are not able to do.
Before council voted yes, they added to this proposal that VisitErie has to check in on a quarterly basis, and show council how money is being spent.
Nick Scott, Jr. was at the meeting, and spoke about the benefits of this tax. He says that Erie has a great story to tell, and this tax will help us to show the assets we have.
"When we can tell people in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland about how great Erie is, get people to visit our community, spend money, spend time, I think that's good for our community," said Scott.
County Council President Phil Fatica agreed that this tax will be a good thing for economy in Erie.
"They come here, and they spend money," said Fatica. "This will enable the VisitErie people to market, to advertise what we have for them. And they can come and get it."
This tax was supposed to be enacted immediately, but council voted to hold off a few days. It now will start on December 9 of this year.
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