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Warren County treasurer reports positive occupancy-tax trends and ongoing platform, enforcement challenges
Summary
County treasurer reported year-over-year increases in occupancy-tax collections for early 2025, outlined enforcement recoveries, and described difficulties getting short-term rental platforms — notably Airbnb — to comply with New York State registration/validation requirements.
Warren County's treasurer told the Occupancy Tax Coordination Committee on April 21 that early 2025 occupancy-tax collections were up compared with last year, but the county continues to face enforcement and platform-compliance challenges with short-term rental marketplaces.
Treasurer Christine reported adjusted collection gains of roughly 12% for February, 6% for March and about 7% for April after correcting a timing anomaly tied to a late payment by a single property. Hotels, motels and resorts account for roughly 80% of total collections, she said; short-term rentals (STRs) make up about 20% and showed deeper month-to-month volatility (STR collections were down in January–March but rose 28% in April).
On enforcement, the treasurer said the county has recovered enforcement revenue this fiscal cycle but will not reach a prior goal of $1 million in enforcement recoveries. "To date, we have $350,000 recovered in enforcement plus $160,000," the treasurer said, noting additional recoveries and interest are expected. She added that penalties and interest historically go to the general fund.
The treasurer also briefed the committee on challenges created by New York State's sales-tax and registration/validation requirements for platforms. She said Airbnb has resisted the county's validation process, has paused collecting occupancy tax for some Warren County STR hosts, and prefers a voluntary agreement that would limit the county's access to transaction-level data. County staff are meeting with platforms including Airbnb, VRBO and Booking.com to resolve reporting and validation issues.
The treasurer said the county is evaluating alternatives to its current vendor for enforcement and registration work; Granicus was the subject of recent review and the county is also considering Deckard, GovOS and Tyler. Committee members asked how penalties and interest are accounted for; the treasurer said penalties and interest from enforcement efforts have historically been transferred to the county's general fund.
No formal action was taken; staff said they will continue platform negotiations and vendor evaluation.
