County committee hears platform reporting gaps, worries about cash flow and allocations

Warren County’s Occupancy Tax Levy committee on April 21 was told inconsistent reporting from short‑term rental platforms is creating allocation problems and could delay distributions to towns.

Treasury staff reported total collections of about $8.3 million for 2025 and said a significant portion of platform receipts lack identifying details needed to allocate revenue to the correct short‑term rental owners. "VRBO is just sending us large checks with minimal information. Airbnb is not sending us anything," said the treasurer, who warned that unallocated receipts create reconciliation work and may delay town payments.

The treasurer and other staff described efforts to reconcile platform payments through a three‑way reconciliation with platforms and owners, and said the county switched portal vendors after an interrupted contract and now expects an automated OPTAX portal to go live in mid‑to‑late summer. Staff urged patience while the county implements GovOS following an earlier vendor change.

Committee members pressed staff on whether recent enforcement recoveries had inflated collection growth, and asked for a historical breakdown of occupancy‑tax receipts. "I'd like to see the receipts back to 2021," Supervisor Lyle said, seeking a clearer picture of whether enforcement or underlying market changes account for year‑over‑year gains.

Staff agreed to provide the requested historic figures and to reissue the committee report with clarifications about timing and filing‑cycle effects so local businesses reading the report will understand the apparent near‑term declines in some categories.

The meeting opened with a motion to approve the March 23 minutes, which the committee carried, and concluded with a motion to adjourn.