A Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) as envisioned by Elliot Lake Coun. Tom Turner did not fly at City Council's virtual meeting Monday night.
The proposed four percent surtax would have been added to the price of accommodation at the city's hotel, lodge and bed and breakfast units.
Coun. Turner said, "This is not a tax on the business. The hotel guest pays the accommodation tax on the suite alone. I don't think we're putting the burden on the one particular hotel (Hampton Inn)."
The motion before Council would have allowed staff to further investigate the idea of a MAT tax, not to grant final approval for it to be to be collected.
It was defeated on a 4-3 vote with Couns. Turner, Ed Pearce and Mayor Dan Marchisella voting in favour. That effectively sealed the fate for Turner's idea.
Coun. Luc Cyr said circumstances have changed considerably since the MAT tax was first suggested in 2019, some two years ago.
"Initially I was in favour of this. Now, considering the times we're in, I think this not a good idea. We're still in the midst of a global pandemic and there's whisperings of another further lockdown," said Cyr.
He spoke of the accommodation industry's weakened condition due to COVID-19 restrictions, "Right now we're building a roof, and we don't even have the walls. So I'm no longer in favour of this."
Coun. Pearce spoke for the room tax, stating, "It may not be a huge amount of revenue, but it does bring in revenue." He listed a number of other northern Ontario centres already charging the tax including Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Wawa.
Coun. Norman Mann was opposed. "I understand that it's going to be generating money to put back into tourism. However, we also have other tourism initiatives."
The annual revenue from the tax was projected at $70,000 plus an amount expected from senior government.
"At the time that we discussed this, I heard a lot from the Airbnb and Bed and Breakfasts and I just don't see the benefits of having it in our community," said Coun. Sandy Finamore, who also voted 'no.'
Coun. Chris Patrie, too, was against the MAT tax. He said in the idea in 2019 when the original pitch was made the idea was to go back to the Airbnb to get further input and collect more information from the proponents.
He added, "It hasn't been done. I don't want to waste staff time on it. I agree with Coun. Cyr, our staff is already thin. It's not in the budget to do it."