by Larry Chowning –
The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday, January 7, to try again this year to get the Virginia General Assembly to approve a resolution allowing the county to collect a 5% transient occupancy tax.
Supervisors approved a 2% lodging tax last year that, by law, Middlesex was allowed to approve by a majority vote of the board of supervisors. A resolution, however, has to be approved by the General Assembly for the county to receive an increase up to 5%.
Along with three other counties, Middlesex presented a resolution to the General Assembly last year to increase the lodging tax to 5%. The resolution was voted down on the floor of the General Assembly.
Middlesex County Administrator Matt Walker said the resolution advanced “through a committee but when politics got involved on the floor [of the General Assembly] we lost with three other counties.”
Keith Hodges of Urbanna, 98th District representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, has agreed to present the resolution to the General Assembly. The resolution states that “Middlesex County is limited to a 2% transient occupancy tax, while many other counties are authorized to levy and collect . . . up to 5%.
“The county desires to increase its tax from 2% to 5% pursuant to Virginia Code,” states the resolution. “Any excess over 2% of the said tax shall be designated and spent solely for tourism and travel or initiatives that, as determined after consultation with the local tourism industry organization, including representatives of lodging properties . . . attract travelers to the county, increase occupancy at lodging properties, and generate tourism revenues in the county.
“The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors after careful consideration believes this request is in the best interests of the citizens of Middlesex County,” the resolution states.
