Richmond County is proceeding with a new tourism marketing levy bylaw.
During last night’s regular monthly meeting in Arichat, Richmond Municipal Council approved a recommendation from the June 6 meeting of the Bylaw and Policy Committee to move the bylaw to the adoption process.
Later in the meeting, council gave first reading approval to the bylaw.
Warden Amanda Mombourquette explained the new bylaw will repeal and replace the previous version dated Dec. 13, 2010, as well as any other previous versions.
Mombourquette said the new bylaw imposes a levy on visitors staying at recognized accommodation providers within the municipality with the collected funds used for regional tourism marketing initiatives. The rate of the levy is set at three per cent of the purchase price of the accommodation, and some exceptions will apply, including emergency situations, she said.
The warden said the levy will apply to all municipalities which participate. Recognized accommodation owners will be required to collect the refunds on a quarterly basis, and the municipality has the authority to audit to ensure compliance, she noted.
CAO Troy MacCulloch said Destination Cape Breton is working with a local programmer to design a program for local accommodation owners to streamline the process for remittance.