Hotel Tax Rising

Vernon’s hotel tax will be going up next year.

The current 2 percent tax charged to hotel and motel guests will jump to 3 percent on January 1 after the city got provincial approval for the change.

It’s expected to bring in an extra 300-thousand dollars a year for tourism marketing and programs.

The City of Vernon will receive 2.8% of the 3%, officially called the municipal regional district tax (MRDT), with the rest going to the provincial Tourism Events Program.

“There are over fifty communities in BC collecting the MRDT including fourteen that moved to a 3%. Kelowna and Kamloops began collecting a 3% MRDT on July 1, 2017,” says Vernon’s economic development and tourism manager Kevin Poole.

Poole says data from BC Stats indicates Vernon has had the fastest growing MRDT in the Thompson Okanagan every year since its first full year of collecting in 2011.

“This strong growth has continued into 2017, with room revenue up 8.3% as of the end of July 2017.”