Kingston Council sets licensing fees for hotels, bed and breakfasts and short-term rentals – Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, NY — It will now cost a minimum of $125 per year to license a hotel in the City of Kingston, including short-term rentals and bed and breakfasts.

In an online meeting on Tuesday, the Common Council unanimously passed a resolution establishing the annual hotel fee. Properties that are defined as hotels by city code and have one to three units would be charged a base fee of $75 and an additional $50 per unit. Hotels with four to nine units would be charged a base fee of $150 and an additional $50 per unit.

Hotels with 10 to 20 units would pay a base fee of $250 and a per unit fee of $45, while hotels with more than 20 units would pay a base fee of $400 and $40 per unit. Meeting spaces, such as conference rooms, would be treated the same as commercial properties for fire inspections, meaning there would be a $125 fee for up to 1,000 square feet. and a charge of 2 cents per additional square foot.

The resolution passed Tuesday without discussion, but a council caucus the night before, Ward 7 Alderman Patrick O’Reilly questioned whether the fee would offset the costs to the city and whether the amounts were in line with what is billed elsewhere.

Council Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress said the fee would cover the cost of annual hotel inspections.

“When Building Safety is going to inspect apartments, there are fees associated with that as well,” said Scott-Childress, D-Ward 3. “And so if we are going to inspect hotels and all facilities that are also defined as hotels, we want to cover this cost, he said this would ensure the safety of all overnight accommodation sites in the city.

Alderman Michele Hirsch, D-Ward 9, said the fee is what the city charges rental property owners.

Earlier this year, City Council passed a resolution amending part of City Code Section 277-2 to note that a fee would be charged to process all applications for licenses or renewals to operate a hotel in Kingston. . However, the amount of the royalty was not fixed at that time. Instead, the matter was referred to the board’s finance and audit committee for review. The committee approved the fee schedule in October.

The council previously amended the definition of “hotels” in the code to include bed and breakfasts and short-term rentals.