Will collect additional 3% starting this July, not 2021
by Tom Chillemi –Â
Following a public hearing on June 2 at which no one spoke, the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors approved a 5% lodging tax that will go into effect on July 1.
The county received permission from the Virginia General Assembly this year to raise the tax from 2% to 5%. The additional 3% lodging tax is required to be spent to promote and market tourism.
The board had considered not imposing the tax until Jan. 1, 2021 as a way to help campgrounds get relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the board voted to choose to make the tax effective July 1. The delay would have cost the county about $52,000 in revenue.
Saluda District representative Pete Mansfield abstained from the vote.
Supervisors voting in favor were Chairman Wayne Jessie, Jamaica District; Reggie Williams, Harmony Village District; John Koontz, Hartfield District; and Lud Kimbrough, Pinetop District (Deltaville).
