SNOW HILL – County officials agreed to introduce a bill that will help increase room tax collection from third party hosting platforms.
The Worcester County Commissioners this week agreed to introduce a bill that amends the county’s rental ordinance to include provisions for hosting platforms. The changes come at the request of Ocean City officials.
“The Mayor and City Council of the Town of Ocean City have requested minor amendments to the county’s rental registration ordinance to increase room tax collection from third party hosting platforms such as Airbnb or VRBO or others,” Commissioner Joe Mitrecic.
In November, Ocean City officials wrote to Worcester County requesting changes to the rental registration ordinance to ensure third party hosting platforms were collecting and remitting hotel rental tax. Their letter noted the popularity of Airbnb, VRBO and the like as ways for entities to rent their properties in Ocean City.
“Currently, the owners of said properties are responsible for the collection and remittance of the hotel rental tax,” the letter from Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan reads. “Unfortunately, hosting platforms are not responsible for this. We believe there are a number of properties listed on the hosting platforms that do not have a rental license, thus the owner is failing to collect and remit hotel rental tax to the county.”
Meehan said local hotels, motels and property management companies were complying with the rental tax requirements.
“There should be a level playing field,” Meehan wrote. “We need to hold hosting platforms responsible for collecting and remitting the proper amount of hotel rental tax.”
Mitrecic said the county’s attorney had worked with the Worcester County Department of Development Review and Permitting as well as the Town of Ocean City’s attorney on the proposed changes. The changes will dovetail with more comprehensive changes in Ocean City’s code with the goal of increasing tax revenues that are currently uncollected.
