Newspaper Page Text
Unpaid bed tax
Continued from Page 1
the tax locally.
They all agreed to the stipulation
that a portion of the money would go to
the comity, with the other portion going
to the Brunswick Golden Isles Conven
tion and Visitors Bureau to be used to
promote the area.
The problem has arisen, particularly
on St. Simons Island, with people who,
for whatever reason, are not paying the
tax.
It’s not the island’s hotel and motel
owners who are skimping on the tax,
it’s people who privately rent out hous
es, apartments and condominiums to
visitors on vacation. The residences are
mostly second homes that the owners
rent out while they’re not using them.
According to the county Lodging
Tax Ordinance, these owners are not
exempt from collecting the bed tax and
paying it the county.
The ordinance requires hotel opera
tors to collect the tax. Hotel is defined as
“any structure containing guest rooms
and which is occupied, or is intended or
designed for occupancy by guests.”
And since the estimated amount
of lost revenue could be as much as
$700,000 a year, the county has been
working for the last several months
on an ordinance amendment changing
definitions to clarify that a residence
where accommodations are furnished
for rent is subject to the lodging tax,
and, therefore the owners of the resi
dences should be collecting the tax.
Assistant Comity Attorney Will Wor
ley told the Glynn Comity Commission
during their meeting on Thursday, Nov.
18, that the reason the owners of these
rental properties are not collecting the
tax, “is most likely because they are not
aware that they should be doing so.”
“Any room that is occupied by a pay
ing guest is required to by pay the tax,”
said Worley, “and that is according to
state law and it’s in our ordinance.”
Worley said several commissioner’s
approached him and Comity Attorney
Aaron Mumford with concerns about
this issue about a year ago.
Worley said through their research
they have discovered quite a few rental
property owners who are either not col
lecting the tax or collecting it and not
turning it over to the comity.
The other reason for the amend
ment, which deals with hotels, accord
ing to Worley, is, sometimes it can be
difficult to collect the unpaid tax from
hotels.
“In the past couple of years,” said
Worley, “we have had to go against a
couple of hotels to try and collect. Some
times the business is closed. Or has
been foreclosed on or has filed bank
ruptcy. So this amendment is a way to
assist with enforcing the ordinance.”
The tax is imposed on the guest rent
ing the room, not the owner of the hotel
or residence. So the amendment adds
several measures to assist the county
with collecting the tax.
They include: 1.) a hotel operator
that owes lodging taxes shall not be
allowed to obtain or renew an occupa
tion tax certificate or alcoholic beverage
license until the taxes are paid, 2.) pro
viding that the lien for unpaid lodging
taxes attaches as of January 1 of each
calender year, and 3.) authorizing the
THE ISLANDER, NOVEMBER 22, 2010, PAGE 5
Downtown Steetscape
County Administrator to place a lien
on property owned by the operator for
unpaid lodging taxes.
Coinciding with a change in the state
law, comity attorneys are also recom
mending in the ordinance amendment
that the penalty for failing to pay the
bed tax in a timely manner be reduced
from 15% to 5%.
Additionally, an exemption from the
tax was added for people renting a
guest room because their home was
destroyed by fire or other casualty.
Worley said they have been work
ing to collect addresses for people who
privately rent out houses or condos,
especially out of town owners.
‘We’re putting together a letter we
will send out to the property owners
explaining the ordinance and that they
are required to collect and pay the tax,”
said Worley.
Commissioner Don Hogan (At Large
#1) asked, “What about owners who
rent their places over the internet and
state if you rent from them you don’t
have pay to be tax?”
Worley said, We know about some of
those and what they are saying is not a
true statement. It’s not true that guests
don’t have to pay the tax. It would be a
commission policy decision whether we
go after those folks.”
Following up, Commissioner Tony
Thaw (Dist. 3) suggested using the
internet to track down the people who
use it to advertise their rental units.
Hogan said, We’re not doing enough
to collect this money. I have a condo
in Femandina Beach that I rent out. I
have to have my state and city licenses
every year, it’s $150 for the state and
$50 for the city, and if I don’t have
them, they’ll come after me.”
Commissioner Tom Sublett (Dist. 2),
in whose district contains the majority
of the offending property owners, asked,
“How much are we losing?”
Worley said the rough estimate was
as much as $700,000 per year.
“Are you confident we will collect
some of this money,?” Sublett asked.
Worley said, “Awareness should
bring a lot into compliance. And the let
ter will help with the awareness. Also
if owner and operators report the col
lections on time and pay them on time,
they can keep 3%.”
“If some still refuse to pay,” Sublett
continued, “will we enforce this through
the tax office, the police department,
who will enforce it?”
Worley said, “Right now the Finance
Director can enforce it. She estimates
how much tax is owed. But I don’t want
to speculate on legal issues here. Under
state law it is a misdemeanor to fail to
pay the tax. Code Enforcement could
be used to write citations. It’s going to
be difficult to catch every one of them,
but we will get some.”
Commission chairman Howard
Lynn (Dist. 4) asked, “If we do this,
why can’t we alert the state and get
some enforcement help from them?”
Worley said, “While the state autho
rized us to collect the bed tax, it is a
county issue, not a state issue. The
state has no enforcement mechanism
in their laws. The county keeps all the
money and splits it with the convention
and visitor’s bureau.”
The motion to approve the ordinance
amendments passed unanimously.
• In other business:
The county commission voted unan
imously to approve Doug Neal’s bid of
$43,000 for the design and architec
tural services for the St. Simons Island
Sports complex.
After spending months looking and
working to find a suitable location
for the gymnasium, the commission
decided on a piece of property they own
on Lawrence Rd. next to fire station on
the north end of the island.
This piece of property meet all quali
fications and has the highest elevation
of all the sites, but staff and the com
mission were concerned that it is not
centrally located on the island.
Three other locations were consid
ered and rejected for various reasons.
Residents voiced strong opposition
to building the gym in Epworth Park.
A gym is not an appropriate use in
Gascoigne Park and the Glynn County
Airport Commission had issues with
using property near the St. Simons
McKinnon Airport for the facility.
For details on the issues with the
airport property see Pamela Shier ling’s
article, “GCAC turns down County on
land swap” on page 1 of this edition.
Continued from Page 1
Two other crosswalks, one on New
castle just past City Hall and the other
closer to Howe St., have been construct
ed using concrete, a concrete router and
a stencil and made to look like the more
expensive pavers.
According to Mayor Thompson the
construction work should be finished by
the end of January and planting could
be done as soon as the end of Febru
ary. □
Assistant County Administrator
Paul Christian, who spearheaded the
gym project, told the commission he
contacted three local architects, Neal,
JFK Architecture and Larry Bryson,
Architect, asking them for proposals on
the gym design.
The proposals ranged from Neal’s
low of $43,000 to a high of $90,000 by
JFK.
“If you approve this tonight, and
have any wishes for this gym,” said
Christian, “then please let me know so
we can work with Mr. Neal to include
them in the design.”
Commissioner Bob Coleman asked,
“Why is there such disparity between
the bids?”
Christian said, “You never know in
these cases. Some of the architectural
firms may have more overhead than
others. We gave them all the same
information, but what they change or
do differently is part of their business.
It is not unusual to see a wide range in
a proposal like this.”
Responding to a question from Thaw,
Recreation Director Wesley Davis told
the commission that in 2010 there are
525 kids in the county’s basketball
program. Of those, 260 are from St.
Simons, but not all of those play at the
mainland gyms.
The younger kids, 211 of them, have
been playing at the Oglethorpe Point
Elementary School gym. Davis said
they play ball five nights a week.
“It’s hard,” said Thaw, “for parents to
get the kids to Ballard and Selden Park
all the time Especially if they have kids
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Unpaid bed tax
EARN UP TO
9.09% py
The Money Tree Inc.
*Series B Variable Rate Subordinated Debentures- Maturity date in four years
subject to automatic extension for one additional four-year period. Interest
rate varies depending on the interest adjustment period selected.
Redemption without penalty only at the end of each adjustment period.
*Subordinated Demand Notes- Interest rate varies depending upon the daily
average balance held. Payable or redeemable at any time. Interest paid at
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145 Altama Connector
Brunswick, GA 31525
www.themoneytreeinc.com
Toll Free 1-877-468-7878
SERIES B VARIABLE RATE
SUBORDINATED DEBENTURES
INTEREST
ADJUSTMENT
TERM
ANNUAL
EFFECTIVE
YIELD *
ANNUAL
INTEREST
RATE
MINIMUM
AMOUNT
1 Year
5.13
5.00
$500.00
2 Years
5.65
5.50
$500.00
4 Years
9.09
8.70
$500.00
Debentures: These are fixed rates for these terms.
SUBORDINATED DEMAND NOTES |
DAILY
BALANCE
$ 1.00
to
$ 9,999
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to
$ 99.999
$100,000
anId
OVER
ANNUAL
EFFECTIVE
YIELD *
3.05
3.30
3.82
4.08
ANNUAL
INTEREST
RATE
3.00
3.25
3.75
4.00
Subordinated Demand Note rates listed are current rates and are subject to
change at anytime over the life of an investment at the Company’s option.
* Compounded daily based on a 365 day year
THE MONEY TREE INC.
114 S. Broad St.
Bainbridge, GA 398IT
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