PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island collected $19.6 million in 5 percent hotel taxes in fiscal 2017, a year-over-year increase of 1.2 percent, according to data released by the R.I. Department of Revenue Wednesday.
Regional tourism districts received the largest allocation of the four groups of recipients of the tax during the year, $7.8 million, which represented a 2.1 percent year-over-year increase. The hotel tax distributed to the regional districts is generated by hotels located outside of Providence and Warwick, for which hotel tax revenue is allocated differently. Here is the distribution of 5 percent hotel tax to the regional tourism districts and their year-over year change:
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- Aquidneck Island – $3.3 million, increase of 1.5 percent
- South County – $1.3 million, increase of 6.8 percent
- Block Island – $349,324, increase of 3.7 percent
- Northern Rhode Island – $324,315, decline of 15.8 percent
- R.I. Commerce Corp. (for stateside purposes) – $174,549, increase of 5.4 percent
- East Providence – $43,033, decline of 10.9 percent
The tax collected at the Omni Providence Hotel, $1.1 million, a 4.3 percent year-over-year decline, was allocated to the following entities:
- R.I. Commerce Corp. – $658,982, an increase of 30.3 percent
- Convention Authority of Providence – $307,525, a decline of 9 percent
- Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau – $131,796, a decline of 4.3 percent
All other Providence hotels contributed 5 percent hotel tax totaling $4 million, a 5.7 percent increase, that was distributed as follows:
- Convention Authority of Providence – $1.2 million, a 7.1 percent increase
- City of Providence – $1 million, a 5.7 percent increase
- Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau – $909,073, an increase of 3.7 percent
- R.I. Commerce Corp. – $898,923, a 5.8 percent increase
Warwick hotels collected $2.6 million of the 5 percent hotel tax during the year, an increase of 0.8 percent, and it was distributed as follows:
- Warwick Department of Economic Development – $808,455, a 3.6 percent increase
- City of Warwick – $660,162, a 0.8 percent increase
- Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau – $605,946, a 0.6 percent gain
- R.I. Commerce Corp. – $566,084, a drop of 2.6 percent
For the fiscal year, the R.I. Commerce Corp. received $4.7 million from various sources, a 2.1 percent year-over-year increase. The Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureay saw a 2.8 percent increase in its revenue from the tax to a total of $2.4 million.
Municipalities received a total of $4.6 million from the tax, a 1.5 percent increase over the fiscal 2016 total. Newport received the largest allocation of any city or town, a total of $1.3 million, which was a 1.8 percent year-over-year decline. Providence received $1 million, a 5.7 percent increase over the year. Warwick was allocated $660,162, a 0.8 percent increase, while Middletown had the fourth-largest total among the state municipalities, $474,908, a 3.6 percent gain. Westerly had the fifth-largest total, $339,862, an increase of 6.7 percent.
Of the $19.6 million collected through the 5 percent hotel tax, $388,850 was for stays using online hosting platforms and room re-sellers (such as Airbnb).
The Department of Revenue also released the tax collections and allocations for June at the same time. For the month $2.2 million in 5 percent hotel tax was collected, an increase of 6.8 percent year over year.
Regional tourism districts received $799,050 of the total for the month, a decrease of 7 percent year over year. Tourism districts allocation for June 2017 was 5 percentage points lower than their 47 percent share in June 2016.
The Aquidneck Island Tourism District received the largest share of the 5 percent tax collection with $342,402, although that represented a $66,570 year-over-year decline, the largest nominal decrease of any regional tourism district in the state. The Convention Authority of Providence saw the largest nominal year-over-year increase in 5 percent hotel tax revenue, increasing $33,414 to $154,996. The South County Tourism District experienced a $20,628 decline in its allocation to $139,420 for June.
Municipalities collected $517,682 in June, a 0.8 percent uptick year over year. Newport revenue collection were larger than any other municipality in the state with $142,141, an 8.5 percent decline year over year. Providence had the second-largest collection of the tax in the state with $110,499, an increase of 12.7 percent. Warwick saw a 3.1 percent increase for a total of $69,815 collected.
R.I. Commerce Corp. received $633,680 of 5 percent hotel tax collection in June, a 46.9 percent increase year over year, in part due to an increase in the mandated revenue allocation percentage from 21 percent to 28 percent.
The Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau received $244,827 in June, a decrease of 2 percent year over year.
The expansion of the 5 percent hotel tax to room resellers and online hosting platforms netted the state $22,723 in June.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
