Supervisor Kennys Occupancy Tax report: Warren Countys Occupancy Tax law went into effect January 1, 2004.

The Occupancy Tax committee that handles all of the countys Occupancy Tax business went into effect on the same date. The funds collected help the local economy through initiatives to support the important tourism business. This includes marketing, promotion and other efforts to incent people to come to our region on vacation or to hold their events. The tax was established at 4% on hotel/motel stays in Warren County. Part of the reasoning was the national average rate of tax paid on a hotel room rented was at the time was 11 %. Warren County sales tax rate was and is 7%. With an additional 4% Occupancy Tax it put Warren right at about the national average for hotel tax. I was appointed to that original committee and have served as chair of that committee for the past several years. The committee was formed not only to answer the public inquires but to handle the distribution of funds. The actual distribution and maintenance of funds is under the authority of the Warren County Treasurers office.

1% of the 4% Occupancy Tax collected goes back to the towns collecting the tax. This distribution is done in the following manner: $35,000 goes to each town collecting the tax along with a share of tax collected in the town. All motel and hotel rooms are subject to the tax with the exceptions of private homes, motel units of 4 units or less and certain housekeeping units. The remainder of the tax collected goes to tourism promotion within the county administered by the Warren County Tourism department. This includes salaries and benefits for the Tourism Department employees, Information technology costs and a small fee to the Treasurer for costs incurred administering the tax. Costs such as TV ads, radio ads, print ads and web ads Warren County runs to support local tourism are all paid by the tax collected. $350,000 annually is set aside from the collections for the promotion of special events held within the county.

The distribution of funds for events is done by the Warren County Occupancy Tax committee. The deadline for submission of applications is November 1 of each year. To aid the committee a point system was developed based upon projected room nights, projected economic impact of the event and time of year the event is being held. A screening committee meets first to screen all applicants for the necessary factors on the applications such as multi day events (one day events are not eligible). 50% self-funding is also necessary for eligibility. This screening process takes several hours and includes recommendations of awards to the full committee. The full committee then meets (this process also takes several hours) and makes recommendations of awards to the full Board of Supervisors. A representative from each event is given the opportunity to present in person to the board and the process is open to the public. This process has accounted for hundreds of thousands of visitors to Warren County yearly that otherwise might not have visited us. This year we processed 51 applications for funding totaling $707,500, approving 48 of them for a total of $391,500. Below is a list of this years recipients: Adirondack Folk School-$1,500 Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival-$25,000 Adirondack Race Management-$12,000 Adirondack Theatre Festival-$5,500 Albany Rods And Customs-$27,500 Americade-$50,000 American Legion Baseball-$1,000 Antique and Classic Boat Show-$1,000 Bolton landing Chamber of Commerce-$5,000 Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce-$9,000 Centurian Cylcing-$31,500

Duffys on Lake George-$1,000 GGFAACA {Boys Basketball} -$30,500 Gore Mt. Chamber of Commerce-$3,000 Gore Mt. Chamber of Commerce-$500 Hits Inc-$4000 Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemens Associaton-$17.500 Hyde Collection -$18,000 Inprov Records-$1,000 Improv Records-$1,000 Lake George Arts Project-$5,000 Lake George Community Band-$1,500 Lake George Community Band-$1,000 Lake George Music Festival-$4,500 Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce-$1,000 Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce-$3,500 Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce-$2,000 Lake George (Village of)-$2,000 Lake George Winter Carnival-$14,500 LARAC-$1,000 Last of the Mohicans Outdoor Drama-$16,500 Marcella Sembrich Memorial Association-$1500 North Creek Business Alliance-$26,000 NYS Public High School Association-$1,500 Prospect School-$1,000 Sherry Management-$6,500 Sister Cities Foundation-$1,000 Sunkiss Balloon Festival-$1,500 Up Yonda Farm-$1,500 Warren County Safe Cycling Org.-$3,000 Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce-$19,000 Warrensburg Bike Rally-$3,000 World Awareness Children Museum-$2,000 Adirondack Sports Complex -$25,000 Eastern NY Marine Trade Association-$1,500 The result is an economic impact to Warren County in the millions of dollars. These events also enhance the quality of life for our local residents. This is a true win-win for the taxpayers of Warren County. Sincerely, Bill Kenny Chairman, Occupancy Tax Committee Email: democratbill@aol.com