SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) -- Onondaga County is attempting to make more off travelers with a new 7% room occupancy tax.
"This is a tax for the renter, not by the person renting the space," said Onondaga County Legislator Kevin Meaker at the September 2 legislative session.
With the same tax already on hotels, Airbnb's and VRBO's will now also have it.
"We have hotel owners already paying this tax. It is no different just because Airbnb and VRBO are newer, they should be doing the same thing," said Onondaga County Legislator Julie Abbott. "It's a fairer process."
Abbott said the additional money raised will help support infrastructure.
"Our infrastructure is impacted by all the tourism, our water and sewer pipelines." Abbott said. "We as residents end up footing that bill, and the room occupancy tax offers us a way of funding that usage tourism [has] on our infrastructure."
She said the money raised will also go toward promoting travel to Onondaga County.
"We use ROT money to promote tourism and to promote our area because we want our sales tax dollars in Onondaga County," Abbott said. "We collect more sales tax instead of raising taxes on residents."
Abbott doesn't think the new tax will deter travelers from staying in the county.
"I brought two of my boys out of state to college this past weekend. I had to stay in a hotel. Do I like that I had to pay the extra tax? No. Is it a necessity? Yes. Did it change my decision to go to these two colleges in Rhode Island? No, it didn't," Abbott said.
The decision to have the 7% room occupancy tax comes after the state introduced a program requiring hotels and short-term rentals to charge a 2% tax on stays where the nightly rate exceeds $2. The tax will take effect at the end of the year.