Tourism director: new law will make booking platforms collect occupancy tax starting Jan. 2026; Crowley to push for better remittance

Wendy Harrington, director of the Acadia Parish tourism office, updated the committee Sept. 9 on recent state changes affecting short‑term rentals and third‑party booking platforms. She said House Bill 374 requires booking platforms (for example, Booking.com or Airbnb) to collect and remit sales and occupancy taxes and that the sales tax provision went into effect July 31 while the occupancy‑tax responsibility takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.

Harrington said the change aims to capture revenue that booking platforms have been remitting in lump sums or misallocating, which resulted in municipalities not receiving the correct distributions. She urged local hosts and businesses that operate short‑term sleeping accommodations to register and update contact information; her office is sending letters, updating forms and pursuing online payment options to make compliance easier.

"The sales tax just went, like I said, went into place July 31. And for occupancy tax, it'll go into 01/01/2026," Harrington told the committee. She described outreach efforts to identify listings and contact hosts and said the tourism office will ask the city to cover a modest audit fee the tourism office currently pays to support compliance processing.

Mayor and council members said they view improved collection as a way to support community development and local events funded by occupancy tax receipts. Harrington said the cooperative endeavor agreement details uses for the funds and that better remittance could increase revenue available for tourism programs and events.

Next steps: tourism staff will continue outreach to short‑term rental hosts, the city will update municipal informational packets and staff will discuss a modest fee to cover audit costs associated with processing occupancy taxes.