Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hotel Occupancy Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chamber says Candlewood Suites’ late payment restored HOT account balance; council presses for enforcement options
Summary
The Nederland Chamber reported a recent large check from Candlewood Suites that restored its hotel-occupancy-tax account to about $28,000. Council members asked staff to pursue enforcement options, including penalties or service cutoffs, and public commenter Robert Clinger raised concerns about other short-term rentals not covered by the current ordinance.
Nederland — The Chamber of Commerce told council it has recovered a substantial payment from a local hotel and that the chamber’s hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) account now holds roughly $28,000.
Miss Diana Labour, president of the Chamber, said the organization recently received a check from Candlewood Suites that improved its balance and will keep chamber-funded programs operating. She said she would follow up by email with exact figures for the council.
Council members pressed staff for more detail about which quarterly payments were late and discussed stronger enforcement tools. One councilor urged an audit of the hotel’s remittances and asked staff whether penalties, deadlines for catching up or even discontinuing water service had been used successfully in the past to collect delinquent HOT remittances.
At least one member of the public, Robert Clinger of Nederland, questioned why small rental operations that rent rooms for short periods were not treated the same as hotels under the current ordinance; staff said past investigations of one such rental produced no viable enforcement action but that the matter would be revisited.
Council approved the quarterly HOT fund financial report after discussion; council instructed staff to review ordinance options and enforcement approaches and to report back at a later meeting.
