Chautauqua County is moving closer to guaranteeing it collects the occupancy tax from property rentals in the county that utilize Airbnb.

Kitty Crow, county budget director, addressed the topic during the recent Audit and Control Committee meeting.

Crow said an agreement has been sent to Airbnb for finalization.

“The effective date will be October 1, which will coincide with the next full calendar quarter,” she said.

Chautauqua County charges a 5% occupancy tax, sometimes called a bed tax, on short-term rentals. Three percent of the occupancy tax is used for the purposes of promoting, developing, and protecting the area’s tourism industry. A portion of the occupancy tax is intended to provide grants for projects that will achieve and/or support special tourism product and event development initiatives. The remaining 2% is used to fund the county’s lakes and waterways grant program.

Any short-term rental, including hotels, motels, and private rentals, are subject to the tax.

Crow notes Airbnb does not own properties, however, private owners use Airbnb to advertise their properties. “How they rent it, whether they advertise in a newspaper or on a website through Airbnb, through a management company, we don’t know that,” she said. “We only know of them when they’re registered, that they’re going to rent their property.”

Crow noted that many people who rent property through Airbnb are already registered and have already been collecting the occupancy tax from their customers. “What will change is that instead of the owner having to remit it, Airbnb will collect it automatically,” she said.

Crow said that will streamline the collection process for both local owners and the county. She predicts there will be an increase, but wasn’t sure how much. “This will shore up all those people who have not been complying with the law,” she said, adding, “Airbnb will be notifying all of the people who are renting their property on their airbnb site.”

Committee Chairman Chuck Nazzaro, D-Jamestown, thanked Crow for her hard work. “I know this has been a long process. I’m glad we’re finally bringing it to conclusion,” he said.

According to Liz DeBold Fusco with Western New York Airbnb, in 2019 there were 15,400 guests to Chautauqua County using Airbnb, generating $2.1 million to their hosts. That would mean that Airbnb properties should have paid $105,000 in occupancy tax.

In 2019 the county collected $1,859,175 up $116,844 from the prior year. However, county officials said the bulk of the receipts come from the larger hotels and motels.