Amherstburg council voted Monday night to move forward with exploring the implementation of a Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).
Amherstburg was the third municipality in the region to hear a pitch from Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI) that seeks to have all seven municipalities come on board with their MAT program.
Windsor has had a MAT in place since 2018, and sits at six per cent. The tax is collected by accommodation providers and remitted to the municipality, and half of the net MAT revenue is shared with TWEPI to support tourism promotion and development.
Amherstburg council learned that at the end of 2024, there were 113 accommodation listings in the town through short term rentals and hotels/motels, with a 49 per cent occupation rate.
The estimated 2024 revenue through those listings was $3.2-million.
If the town was to charge a 4 per cent MAT based off the estimated revenue, $128,000 in MAT would be generated, with the town keeping $64,000 or 50 per cent.
If a 6 per cent MAT was charged, based off the estimated revenue, $192,000 in MAT would be generated, with the town keeping $96,000 or 50 per cent.
As AM800 previously reported, mayor Michael Prue came out in favour of the proposal and told council it was exciting.
"If the Americans still want to come over and visit us because we're not nasty and horrible and will treat them very nice in spite of all the goings on, then I don't mind taking a couple of bucks off them so that they can enjoy some of the finest festivals Ontario has to offer, and that's what we offer," Prue said.
Council heard from administration that the town faces some issues including lost revenue from short term rentals who are not registered under the town bylaw, and AirBnB refusing to work with smaller municipalities to collect the tax.
In order for the program to work for Amherstburg, administration said Windsor would need to request AirBnB allow the onboarded municipalities be included in their MAT collection.
Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said the program could be a way to potentially catch those not registered through the town short term rental bylaw.
"I like the idea of taking that cost off of the tax payer, and the short term rentals and the hotels pitching in their fair share towards our tourism budget," Gibb said. "I'm most definitely interested in seeing where this goes so that we can identify short term rentals that may be flying under the radar per se."
Councillor Don McArthur said he was in favour of the tax and hoped other municipalities signed on.
"We're a tourist town, and with the added benefit of those tourist attractions are great for our residents as well, but this will help fund our existing tourism, potentially eliminating all that money off the county levy which we have to pay," McArthur said.
Amherstburg has now joined Essex and Kingsville councils who in the past few weeks instructed their administrations to prepare a report on the tax.
TWEPI is asking for decisions to be made by August 31, 2025.
Amherstburg will schedule a public open house to gather feedback on the proposal.