CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor. They can be submitted on the site here, or emailed to [email protected]. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes. The following letter was submitted in response to an article about Collingwood council considering a municipal accommodation tax levied on local hotel bills.
As to the tourist tax, it is absolutely necessary on Airbnbs.
Owners are charging a high price for a night's stay without paying any taxes to the community for infrastructure that the many guests are using.
Proper hotels/motels/etc are a business that contributes to the tax base. They must compete with the short-term rentals on an unlevel playing field.
Tourist tax can be, and is, added by the app itself in many communities already. No administrative costs to the city. A simple negotiation between the town and Airbnb.
Luba Mifflin
Collingwood, Ont.
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