PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island collections of the 5 percent hotel tax in February increased 4 percent year over year to $800,934, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue. Fiscal 2017 year-to-date, collections of the 5 percent hotel tax through February increased $422,568 year over year, a 3.3 percent gain that brought total collections and distributions to $13.4 million.
The expansion of the 5 percent hotel tax to room rentals via online hosting platforms and room re-sellers collected $8,497 in February, an increase of 29.2 percent year over year. Fiscal 2017 year-to-date through February, the hotel 5 percent expansion had collected $213,446, an increase of 26.3 percent, or $44,463, year over year.
The 5 percent hotel tax is collected and redistributed to municipalities as well as to tourism-related agencies, including the R.I. Commerce Corp. and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. Money was previously distributed to the R.I. Convention Center Authority, but that distribution was discontinued at the end of the 2015 calendar year. Below are breakdowns for distributions from the tax collections for February as well as the totals through February for fiscal 2017.
February collections
- Regional tourism districts in February received $300,969, a 14.8 percent increase year over year. Regional tourism districts (besides Block Island and Northern Rhode Island) experienced an uptick in distributions due to an increase of allocation from state 5 percent hotel taxes from 42 percent in February 2016 to 47 percent in February 2017.
- Municipalities were allocated $181,314 in February, a 2.7 percent increase over the year.
- The R.I. Commerce Corp. was allocated $198,735 in February, a 10.1 percent decline year over year. However, Commerce RI’s allocation decreased from 28 percent of hotel tax collections in February 2016 to 21 percent in February 2017.
- The Providence Warwick Convention and Visitor’s Bureau received $119,915 in allocation of the 5 percent hotel tax in February, an increase of 8.8 percent year over year.
Fiscal 2017 year-to-date February collections
- Regional tourism districts collected $5.5 million, a 4.4 percent year-over-year increase. Allocation of 5 percent hotel tax to regional tourism districts increased from 42 percent to 47 percent after June 2016.
- Municipalities were allocated $3.2 million, a 3.9 percent increase year over year.
- R.I. Commerce Corp. was allocated $3.1 million, a 6.2 percent year-over-year gain.
- The Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau was allocated $1.6 million, a 3.8 percent uptick year over year.
- The R.I. Convention Center Authority has received nothing in 5 percent hotel tax allocation in fiscal 2017, after being allocated $165,897 through the same time period in fiscal 2016. Allocation to the RICCA was discontinued at the start of the 2016 calendar year.
Aquidneck Island was the regional district with the largest allocation of the state 5 percent hotel tax in February, receiving $98,299, a 32 percent increase from February 2016. Aquidneck Island also collected the largest year-to-date allocation of any regional tourism district through February, collecting $2.4 million, a 5.2 percent gain on the same fiscal 2016 period.
Providence was the largest single municipality recipient of the 5 percent hotel tax allocations in February, receiving $56,199, which was a $1,563 (2.6 percent) decline from February 2016.
Through February in fiscal 2017, Newport received the most 5 percent hotel tax revenue, $891,280, which was 2.5 percent more than in the same fiscal 2016 period.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
