Louis Llovio writes in the Maryland Daily Record:
Maryland state senators will take up a measure this week that would allow cities to charge a 1 percent tax on hotel rooms.
If passed, the tax could be levied only by incorporated municipalities that don’t get a share of their county’s occupancy tax. Only cities in six counties — Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Montgomery, Somerset and Washington—would have that option.
This would suggest that, for example, Annapolis would already be getting some of the hotel tax money from Anne Arundel
Montgomery County has a 7 percent tax on hotel rooms but it does not share it with the two cities [Gaithersburg and Rockville], which border on Washington, D.C.
Unsurprisingly, the hotel industry doesn’t think much of the idea, but not everyone is swayed:
“What we’re trying to do is attract businesses and visitors to our hotels,” he said. “This [tax] will dissuade bigger groups from coming.”
“Come on,” said Del. Kumar P. Barve D- Montgomery the bill’s House sponsor. “If a biotech is looking to come to Montgomery County, then a 1 percent charge is not going to stop them from coming.”
Plus, he said, there is a way for Rockville and Gaithersburg hotels to avoid the issue altogether: Have the county share its revenue.
According to the article, the measure has already passed the house.