Belleville is giving the hotel, motel, Airbnb, and bed and breakfast operators a break from the Municipal Accommodations Tax.
The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the tourism and hospitality industries and their revenue streams have collapsed.
At its meeting on Monday, city council decided to defer the last three months of the MAT taxes and suspend collection of the April, May and June tax.
Mayor Mitch Panciuik tells Quinte News the city expects the operators to pass the savings on to their guests, especially since most of those guests right now are hospital service workers.
Panciuk says council didn’t think it was right for them to have to pay this municipal accommodation tax “during these troubled times” so the city passed that along.
He added, “We expect the properties to reduce their price and pass that savings to their guests.”
Councillor Kelly McCaw said she didn’t agree with the deferral.
McCaw said the hospitality venues are allowed to remain open while other businesses such as clothing stores are not.
