Middle Police: Motel Calls Decreased Since Licensing, Tax Began

COURT HOUSE — Fees and taxes might be responsible for reducing crime stats for the local hospitality industry.
In recent weeks, Middle Township Committee has renewed licenses for the motels and motor inns in this community. At last count, there were 320 rooms in 15 such establishments throughout the township, which began issuing hotel/motel licenses in 2004 when it also began collecting a local tax on their rented rooms.
The state began allowing municipalities to collect that tax in 2003 in an effort to reduce local governments’ dependence on property taxes to provide services. It was argued that tourists visiting the Garden State utilize its roads and emergency services, but don’t contribute to their upkeep.
Middle Township officials saw the additional revenue stream and opted to participate.
The township receives a $350 annual licensing fee from each motel totaling $5,250 as well as a 3 percent tax on every rented room. The annual taxes have ranged between just over $31,000 last year to nearly $59,000 in 2005. This revenue is deposited into the township’s general fund.
The tax is collected by the motel in addition to the 5 percent state occupancy tax and the 7 percent sales tax and remitted to the state treasury, which in turn distributes the money back to the municipality.
According to the state Division of Taxation, Middle Township and Cape May are the only two municipalities in this county that have opted to charge an occupancy tax on their hotel rooms. Middle Township charges the maximum 3 percent while Cape May charges 2 percent.
North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, which have over half of the county’s 400 hotels and motels, are not authorized to charge this tax because they levy their own 2 percent Tourism Development Fee used to fund various activities and events on Five Mile Island.
Motels in the Middle Township must meet all applicable building, housing, health and safety regulations before their licenses are renewed. The township has the right to inspect the facilities. Owners face a penalty of $200 per day until violations are corrected.
When the measure was first adopted in April 2004, township officials cited the numerous emergency responses to local motels and the associated expense.
“We are experiencing hundreds of police and rescue calls to these motels,” said Deputy Mayor Charles Leusner, according to a Herald story from that time.
The township would be “recouping…a part of the money we spend on public safety to protect the people who live around the motels and renting the rooms,” Leusner said.
At the time, Leusner cited 385 police calls to those motels, which included a homicide, illicit drug sales, sexual assaults, and someone getting assaulted with a hammer, as reasons why more police were needed, and the tax was a way to defray police costs.
Leusner’s son, Chris, is a Middle Township police lieutenant.
Lt. Leusner searched police records from July 1, 2007 through July 19, 2009 and found several motels were still requiring substantial police responses.
According to Leusner, police responded to The Economy Motel at 3172 Route 9 on 212 occasions during that period. There were also 204 calls to Whispering Woods Motel at 535 Route 47 and 146 calls to the Off Shore Motel at 1801 Route 47. In total, Leusner found that police responded to local motels 1,137 times in just over two years.
The calls ranged from disorderly conduct to narcotics, theft , warrants, sex offenses, suspicious deaths and more.
Despite those figures, police report that calls have been generally down since the township began licensing the establishments.
Lt. John Edwards, police liaison with the township’s motel association, told the Herald that the motel owners have been cooperating with authorities and “policing themselves” effectively by establishing rules of behavior for their guests. Edwards said he meets with the motel owners twice a year to discuss any ongoing issues.
“Those who violate the rules are gone,” Edwards said.
James Smyth, owner of Whispering Woods, told the Herald his motel has its own warning for guests:
“If the police come, you go.”
Smyth said his motel cooperates with police as much as possible.
“They (police) can see our register or drive through our property whenever they want,” he said. “If we see suspicious behavior in one of our units, we contact police right away.”
When he calls police, they respond quickly, he said.
Smyth, a retired financial executive from Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital (now Cape Regional Medical Center), acknowledged the policing problem but said it unfortunately comes in part because his motel and others serve some of the county’s most needy by accepting vouchers from the county Department of Social Services.
By providing that service, motels are more apt to provide shelter to people who can’t help themselves and are prone to drug and alcohol use, he said.
“Most of our guests are not riff raff, they are just falling on hard luck,” Smyth said. “Things are tough in today’s economy. If we didn’t provide shelter for them, where would they go?”
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com