The North Bergen Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance that will enable the township to collect taxes on hotel room use, beginning immediately.
According to Township Administrator Chris Pianese, North Bergen is just following the lead of the state, which enacted the hotel tax law in May and was signed into law by Gov. Jim McGreevey then.
“We couldn’t impose the tax until we passed the ordinance,” Pianese said. “Now that it is in place, we can move forward and act on it as quickly as possible. The state legislative passed the law with the idea to give the municipalities some relief.”
Local municipalities could begin to collect a 1 percent room tax beginning June 30. North Bergen has 11 hotels and motels, with a total of approximately 750 rooms.
“We figured that if the hotels have a 50 percent occupancy rate on an average of $100 per night, then we can collect as much as $120,000 in the first year,” Pianese said.
However, the hotel room tax rate increases to 3 percent on July 1, 2004, which will mean an additional $400,000 in revenues raised by the hotel room taxes alone.
It is especially important to have this program instituted now, because a brand new Comfort Inn Suites just opened on Tonnelle Avenue and the long-standing Meadowlands Hotel is being converted into a Howard Johnson’s, with plans for an additional 40 rooms being added to the existing 200, scheduled to open by later this year.
Pianese said that he expected to receive some negative feedback from the hotel owners and operators, but when the ordinance was heard at the recent Board of Commissioners meeting, no one voiced any displeasure or concerns.
“I think they are just going to add the tax onto their current room rates, like the way most hotels in other states operate it,” Pianese said. “There has been talk about this happening for quite some time, so I don’t think it comes as a shock to the hotel owners. No one even came to the meeting.”
Will be implemented soon
Pianese said that by mid-September, a notice will be sent to all of the 11 hotel owners and operators that the tax will be implemented.
“We will be able to collect that for three quarters of the fiscal year,” Pianese said. “By next July, when the new fiscal year begins, it will get bumped up considerably. It’s a pretty substantial gain for the town. It’s a law that is very appreciated by us in North Bergen.”
Mayor Nicholas Sacco, who was instrumental in seeing the legislation pass through the state Senate, where he serves as the senator for the 33rd District, said that New Jersey is just following the lead of other states in putting a hotel room tax together to benefit local municipalities.
“Other states have done it for quite some time,” Sacco said. “We think it’s only fair. People who use the local hotels are affecting the resources of the town. They’re in need of police and fire service whenever there’s a call. This helps to compensate the town for the use of those services. It’s a new source of revenue for us and it’s coming at a great time to help us. We’re always looking for ways to increase ratable and revenue sources, always in a constant search.”