by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—The Lancaster board of supervisors on Thursday, April 9, proposed an increase in the transient occupancy tax, raising it from 2% to 8% in order to help fund programs within the county’s economic development authority (EDA). The board voted 5-0 to recommend the tax increase and send the issue to the planning commission.
The proposed tax increase is separate from the rest of the tax ordinance. “The reason is because our tax rate ordinance affects the real estate tax, the personal property tax, the merchants capital and so on. Those rates will be retroactive to January 1 of this year,” county administrator Don Gill said. “The transient occupancy tax is in a separate ordinance that’s paid monthly. So if you do decide to increase the transient occupancy tax you will also need to decide on an effective date for that.”
Assistant county administrator John Bateman said that while “the current EDA grant program has supported local business and generated a modest economic impact, we want to have more of an impact on these businesses.” The EDA has issued 48 awards with an economic impact of $477,250. The maximum award is $10,000 and requires a one-to-one match.
“The county has an enterprise zone,” said Bateman. “This is a state-based incentive program, and we are required to have local incentives to match those state-based incentives. What the EDA has worked on is the Smart Start suite, which is introducing two targeted grants to fill specific gaps in the zero- to 10-year business window.”
