Lower Approves Occupancy Tax

VILLAS – Property owners with short-term rentals will not have to worry about Lower Township’s new occupancy tax. They should be able to rely on the site to collect and pay the new fees.
Lower’s township council passed Ordinance 2022-10 Oct. 3 creating a 3% occupancy tax on all short-term rentals (STR) or transient lodging in the township. 
The 3% tax is in addition to the state sales tax and is applied to rentals of hotel or motel rooms, or any other form of transient lodging, including condos, apartments or whole house rentals. The agency the property owners are registered with will collect the tax and remit it to the state. The state will then remit the municipal occupancy tax back to Lower Township.
The township enacted the ordinance to offset the increase in marketplace rentals and its “impact on the township and on the public.” In September, Mayor Frank Sippel said rentals through Airbnb, Vrbo and others have increased tremendously. Monitoring the 750 or so such rentals is placing a burden on township services and personnel, Sippel said. 
The ordinance will be effective beginning in 2023. It officially starts on the first day of the first full month, occurring 90 days after the New Jersey Division of Taxation has received a copy of the adopted ordinance. 
Township Manager Mike Laffey said the ordinance would likely go into effect Feb. 1, 2023.
Municipal Clerk Julie Picard spoke to the state Division of Taxation, Oct. 5, and said the division’s websitehas all the information anyone will need to pay their taxes. 
“We talked to the state yesterday. People pay them just like Cape May County taxes. The person who owes the tax registers and pays on the site,” Picard said.
Property owners should become familiar with the process. The website generates form HM100, available for monthly reporting to the state. However, Picard said her office is more than willing to offer its assistance to township residents. 
“If anyone has a problem, we are here to help,” Picard said.
Laffey said he understands the growth of the STR marketplace for vacation rentals. He said he had out-of-state visitors who looked for an STR in Lower Township during the second week in July. The closest place they could find that would accommodate them was Margate. 
Thoughts? Email csouth@cmcherald.com.