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Warren County reviews occupancy tax collections and short‑term rental compliance; Granicus results fall short of projections
Summary
County staff reported a small year‑over‑year rise in occupancy tax collections but said the Granicus enforcement product has yielded $71,000 to date against higher initial projections; officials are testing alternative vendors and said platform collection rules remain unsettled under New York law.
County staff reported that total occupancy tax (OCT) collections through the 2024 reporting period reached $7.9 million, up from $7.6 million in the prior comparable period, an increase the presenter characterized as roughly $300,000 (about 4% overall but about 1% after enforcement adjustments). The committee heard a detailed update on short‑term rental (STR) compliance, vendor performance and state law developments that could change how platforms remit taxes.
County Treasurer Ms. Martin said the county has collected about $71,000 so far through the Granicus enforcement contract on an upfront $40,000 investment, which the county presenter said represents about a 78% return on investment but is lower than initial vendor estimates (the vendor originally projected $250,000–$600,000 uplift). Ms. Martin said she has discussed the product’s performance with the vendor and that additional gains are possible; the county expects another update early next week and is considering system integration with the county’s Tyler/New World system.
Ms. Martin told supervisors the county is also considering a product called Decker (spelling reviewed during the meeting) and scheduled demos for April 7; staff plan to issue an RFP after evaluating integrations and capabilities. She said Granicus provides some automation but its three modules can be cumbersome and that Decker had features she found promising, such as nightly calendar tracking of rented dates, end‑to‑end automation and audit features.
Committee members discussed how online platforms should collect taxes under New York law. Ms. Martin said the law includes a provision that, when a host sells through a platform, the platform is responsible for remitting both the state sales tax and county occupancy tax to the appropriate governments; she added that the legal and administrative details are still evolving and “it changes every day.” She said VRBO has been cooperative and contacted the county to discuss collection and registration; Airbnb, by contrast, has been inconsistent in communications. Ms. Martin said county staff will meet with VRBO and NYSAC representatives and that NYSAC expects 9–12 months for implementation to smooth out.
Supervisors asked about travel‑market trends and enforcement receipts. Staff said enforcement efforts have added roughly $255,000 plus a recent additional $20,000; short‑term rental receipts were reported as up 13% year over year while hotels and motels were reported roughly even.
Ending: County staff will proceed with additional vendor demos and an RFP process for long‑term automation and integration; supervisors asked staff to track revenues and vendor performance against the county’s projections and report back.
