A group of business owners providing short-term rentals are calling on Blind River council to reverse its decision to charge a four percent Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).
The Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) was introduced in Ontario and allows municipalities individually to levy it on visitors who stay for less than 30 days at a motel, hotel, inn or bed and breakfast.
The owners of motels and B&Bs claim they weren't consulted about the issue leading up to council's decision.
At the November council meeting where the tax was approved, Karen Bittner, the town’s director of facilities and community services, said the levy is meant to cover the cost of regular services such as infrastructure upgrades. She said at the time that the MAT approval was the final piece of a project that had taken close to a year and a half.
The business owners appeal to have the tax removed was contained in a letter to the town on Dec. 5.
“Much to the disappointment of the business community, Blind River mayor and council have implemented a four percent Municipal Accommodation Tax beginning on Jan. 1, 2024,” the letter stated. “While becoming commonplace in large centres, the MAT is relatively unheard of in small communities such as ours. The news came as great surprise to all of us in the local tourism industry (those of us who are directly impacted by this decision making) as no prior consultation or discussions had taken place. We, as taxpayers, believe our voices are important and that substantial decisions such as these should require consultation with the business community as opposed to being dictated without consideration.”
The tax would also require the businesses to provide confidential information to town office staff that the owners believe is unnecessary and would involve additional costs.
“It is no secret that over the last few years operational costs for businesses (utilities, supplies, wages etc.) have increased dramatically. Despite the added burden of these costs, our local businesses have done our best to keep our rates reasonable for our guests. The addition of the four percent to our rates limits our businesses' ability to price competitively and increase our rates to keep up with the ongoing rise in inflation," the letter continues.
“With the implementation of the MAT comes a tax remittance form that businesses are required to submit to the Town of Blind River. These forms force local businesses to provide sensitive and confidential business information to local staff at our municipal office. This confidential information is private and is only of concern to the businesses, their accountants and the Canada Revenue Agency. This reporting method is a gross overstepping of municipal powers and an absolute violation of business privacy.”
The business owners want council to halt the tax implementation immediately until proper consultation and discussion has taken place with those who are impacted.
Mayor Sally Hagman said she had found 45 municipalities online, including communities about the same size as Blind River, that have implemented the tax.
Council agreed to hold an information session for operators. No date has been determined for the meeting.