Legislators adopt local changes to hotel‑occupancy tax to include short‑term rentals; hearing set before final adoption

The Budget, Capital and Personnel Committee voted Aug. 14 to schedule a public hearing and subsequently adopted revisions to Tompkins County's hotel‑occupancy tax that update the local law to conform with recent state changes and to extend collection and enforcement to short‑term rentals.

Nick (county staff) told legislators the update "make[s] it conform with the new state law" enacted in February and said it allows the county to tax short‑term rentals consistent with the state changes. County Attorney staff worked with administration to produce a redline of the local law and to include "much enhanced, enforcement provisions," County Attorney Maury (commenting during discussion) noted, warning there are local operators who have not been remitting occupancy taxes.

Legislators approved a public hearing on the draft local law and later adopted Local Law C of 2025 during the same session. Committee members discussed enforcement options; Maury said the law does not require the county to publicly identify persons found in violation but noted stronger enforcement tools are now available. Several legislators said the hotel‑occupancy tax revenues support local arts, culture and nonprofit grant programs and urged enforcement to ensure fairness among lodging operators.

The committee recorded unanimous votes for both the hearing schedule and the local‑law adoption; members indicated the county will continue coordination with state officials and enforcement partners to implement the changes.