I’ll add my two cent’s on the “Hotel Tax” debate. I travel a lot with my job. I put together a chart showing the hotel taxes I was charged while traveling for my job. Some of the locations published where the fund collected, most didn’t. Today it’s just a part of doing business and Harford County should join the rest of the 22 counties and Baltimore City and benefit from this funding source. It’s a great source of revenue if used properly.
I am introducing HB 669, a hotel tax for Harford County. We are the only county in Maryland without this vital tax stream. Each year the county loses tax revenues not paid for by Harford Countians but usually paid for by those living outside of Harford County.
The following chart shows the amount of tax dollars we lose each year:
At present, we have over 2,750 hotel/motel rooms available in Harford County. In the next two years, over 300 additional rooms will come on board. With easy access to I95, Aberdeen Proving Ground and BRAC, Ripkin Stadium and other tourist attractions, Harford County is a hotel magnet.
Loss revenues due to the lack of a hotel tax, can be used to address:
(Aberdeen, Maryland) January 16, 2010 – Four people including an off duty police officer remain at Shock Trauma in serious but stable condition all are suffering from various stab wounds. Investigators say a fight broke out between two men in the parking lot of the Diamond Club. One of the men produced a knife stabbing the other man, four others, including the off duty officer, were stabbed as they attempted to break up the fight.
Kibwa Cazemba Evans 31, of Baltimore has been arrested and will be charged with several counts of attempted murder and first and second-degree assault. Evans was injured in the incident and was transported to Bayview Hospital where he was treated and released.
The others victims are identified as follows:
- Roshon Harris 25 of Aberdeen- flown to Shock Trauma
Dedicated to George Donhauser and Mrs. Clara Wilson
DEL HAVEN COTTAGES AND HOTEL
Early ads for this landmark at the north edge of Bel Air at the intersection of Moore’s Mill Road and Hickory Avenue were short and to the point…
“Strictly AAA ….Modern…..Phones….
Delicious Food
Breakfast…Lunch…Dinner…Sandwiches
Open Year Round 23 Miles North Of Baltimore
U.S. Route 1 Bel Air, Maryland”
“DEL HAVEN HOTEL AND COTTAGES
23 Miles North of Baltimore, Md.
Bel Air on U.S. Route 1, Md.
Modern Steam Heated Rooms – Private Bath – Garages
Large Dining Room – Excellent Home Cooked Foods
Fountain Service.
DeLuxe Furnished Cottages, Steam Heated, Beauty Rest Mattresses, Running Water, and Community Kitchen.
AAA Large Shady Lawn
Private Swimming Pool, Free to Guests – Showers.
Gas Supplies.
Handy to Churches and Amusements.
F.M. Irwin, Prop.”
As a kid, having just moved to a dairy farm outside town and on one of the many dirt roads in Harford county…I would ride my bike some two miles to have a Coke and pack of ...Continue Reading
This news was passed along this morning by Delegate Dan Riley:
“Hotel tax, for Harford County, killed in the Senate.
It is with great disappointment I’ve learned the hotel tax for Aberdeen was killed in the Senate.
The bill was doing well until someone offered an amendment. The amendment was accepted and became part of the bill thus killing Aberdeen’s chances of getting the hotel tax this year. I do not know what Senator was behind the amendment, I can only guess…maybe a friend of Hess?
I will bring the bill back next year, and the next year, and the next year…until it passes or the opposition, in the Senate, to the bill is retired by the voters.”
If state Sen. Barry Glassman has his way, he will not give Harford County or the City of Aberdeen the ability to put a new tax on hotel/motel rooms anytime soon – unwelcome news to a financially-strapped city that was looking to finally secure the much sought after lodging surcharge.
While the rest of the city toiled with transition teams, inner turmoil among a feuding police department and ethics violations, old and new, at least one group of Aberdeen residents actually tried to get something done the old fashioned way – traveling by bus to Annapolis last week in support of the latest push to implement a hotel/motel room tax in Harford County.
Harford County is the lone jurisdiction in Maryland without the authorization to impose and collect a minimal fee on each night’s stay in such lodging. Yet its best chance yet to get the proposition passed – with a new ...Continue Reading
