By Ian Cobb

e-KNOW

City of Cranbrook council last night unanimously approved a three per cent tax on all hotel and motel stays in the city.

Hotel Tax Bylaw No. 3892 was necessary in order to establish and fund a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) that will work to market Cranbrook’s tourism potential, under the banner of the Cranbrook and Region Tourism Society (Cranbrook Tourism).

“It is a requirement in order to provide evidence of authority in the application and is a formal request of the province by council to levy the tax on the municipality’s behalf,” a city staff report explained.

The tax, expected to generate about $450,000 per year, also applies to bed and breakfasts with four or more rooms.

Mayor Lee Pratt noted city hoteliers took the initiative to bring the tax in, though a previous attempt a few years back fell flat. He added some recent commentary on social media needed to be addressed, due to its incorrect nature.

“Realistically, it’s not the city’s call. All we are doing is saying we approve of it,” he said, noting city taxpayers will not pay anything toward this.

“It will give them (Cranbrook Tourism) a new pool of money to use to keep attracting new visitors here,” Pratt said, adding that can lead to new residents.

The hotel room tax is also only uncommon to Cranbrook, as Kimberley (Fernie, Invermere and Radium Hot Springs) have “had it for years now,” he said, adding it won’t chase away potential overnight stays.

In order to proceed, hoteliers in favour needed to cover more than 50% of the rooms in the city. Coun. Danielle Cardozo noted the vote was close to 70% to proceed with a DMO.

She also noted that the tax only applies to stays of 30 days or fewer, which won’t impact people living full-time in motel/hotel rooms.

“There will be zero effect on those families,” she said.

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