Recently Rehoboth Beach, resulting from a city charter change approved by the Delaware General Assembly, will now initiate a hotel/lodging tax of 3 percent. City officials estimate that this tax will generate approximately $900,000 on an annual basis.
Lewes, through our city council, could and should request a similar charter change. Once Lewes requests a charter change, based on the Rehoboth Beach timeline, approval from the General Assembly will take approximately one year.
Here are my estimates and assumptions for Lewes:
• Five hotels/motels: Beacon Motel, Hotel Blue, Dogfish Inn, Hotel Rodney, Inn at Canal Square
• Total number of rooms/suites: 146
• Assume average room rate of $137/night
• Assume average occupancy of 25 percent and 50 percent
25% 50%
• Revenue/night $5001 $10,001
• Revenue/week 35,004 70,007
• Annual revenue 1,820,182 3,640,364
• 3 percent tax 54,605 109,211
Additional annual revenue of $54,605 at 25 percent occupancy and $109,211 with 50 percent occupancy.
Couple the new 3 percent tax with a more robust/strengthened system that effectively/efficiently collects revenue from all Airbnb and other rentals. This would result in significant revenue from those tourists and vacationers visiting our beautiful area and help, in part, to keep a cap on Lewes resident taxes.
I encourage all of us to contact our city council members and mayor to gain local council approval so the General Assembly can take positive action on our behalf.
Paul Griffith
Lewes
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
