Has anyone noticed that the unincorporated portions of Sussex County are still not collecting the 3% hotel tax for the county? This tax is imposed on hotel guests (visitors), not on Sussex County residents. All proceeds from the tax are devoted to Sussex County for funding of initiatives for the “capital and operating costs of beach nourishment, waterway dredging, economic development, tourism programs, recreational activities, and water quality and flood control projects” (Sussex County Council minutes of Nov 12, 2019, Page 6). The tax was enacted Jan 1, 2020, but its implementation was deferred to support local businesses (i.e., hotels) during the period of tight COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
As we all saw during the Memorial Day holiday, the largely eliminated COVID-19 protocols resulted in a significant influx of visitors to various localities, so the hotel tax should now be reinstated, especially for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.
However, at the May 25, 2021, Sussex County Council meeting, an initiative, led by Mark Schaeffer, resulted in a decision to defer the tax collection.
Sussex County has already lost revenue and stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars more, revenue paid by visitors to keep their beach visits enjoyable and worth repeating.
Mark Schaeffer has said he won’t raise taxes for residents of Sussex County but, if visitors to Sussex County do not contribute to repairing the impact of their visits, who do you think will have to pay?
Valerie Wood
Millsboro
