York County CVB, lawmakers push for hotel tax

The York County Convention and Visitors Bureau led a rally at the state Capitol today to reinforce the $907 million economic impact of the county's tourism on the state's economy and to press for an increase in the county's hotel tax.

“This is a showcase of how important tourism is to York County and to Pennsylvania,” said state Rep. Kevin Schreiber (D-York)  before the start of the Explore York County Tourism Day event. “But most importantly, this is to showcase the governor’s home county. You could do a ‘Tom Wolf slept here’ tour.”

Aside from a host of lawmakers and CVB representatives, the event featured products made in York County, hotels, and mascots from Penn State York and York College.

The overarching theme, though, was the need to increase funding for tourism promotion in the county. For four years, lawmakers have tried to get the county’s hotel tax — sometimes called the pillow tax — increased from 3 percent to 5 percent. The push came close last session but died over political wrangling.

Rep. Keith Gillespie (R-York), who spoke during the rally, has proposed a bill to allow the increase of the county’s hotel tax. He also has proposed another bill that would give the 54 counties whose tax is not at 5 percent the ability to raise it. The second measure is backed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, the Pennsylvania Travel and Tourism Association and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

“This would fill the gap from statewide tourism promotion funding,” he said.

Eric Menzer, president of the York Revolution baseball club and chairman of the CVB, said the tax is one of the few backed by those who pay it.

The baseball club pays $75,000 each year to put visiting teams up in local hotels, he said. That works out to about $2,250 annually in taxes.

Though he did not speak publicly, Wolf stopped by the event briefly.

Source: Central Penn Business Journal