For people of color and immigrants in New York, hotels are a path to the middle class and a source of good wages and benefits. New York hotels are at the heart of our tourism industry, which regularly employs 300,000 New Yorkers – more than the finance industry, and nearly twice as many as the tech sector.
Lowering the tax on tourists will add visitors and jobs while growing our economy.
What’s at stake?
Hotels provide NYC with:
THE PROBLEM:
NYC has the highest hotel taxes in America
Over Taxed
The City adds a whopping 5.875% occupancy tax to each room bill, in addition to other taxes.
Double the Cost
NYC hotels pay double the property tax burden than other major markets, also increasing costs for tourists.
Last Place
NYC is ranked dead-last in affordability out of the nation’s largest 26 cities, according to consumer surveys.
Priced Out
We are losing customers to other cities and New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island hotels.
The Solution:
A tax break to unleash
a tourism wave
Lowering the occupancy tax rate 3% would increase hotel stays by thousands of room nights per month, keeping hotels open and increasing employment.
Every dollar we spend reducing those taxes is an investment in bringing hospitality stats back up, which will quickly yield higher tax revenues through increased overall room occupancy and reopened hotels while expanding the industry and creating jobs.