2026-10-26 - Common Council Study Session

00:36Anybody with questions, they are ready

00:39to go.

00:41>> Any questions? No? Okay. Thank you.

00:44>> Uh item 17 is also ready to go.

00:48>> Okay. Thank you.

00:49>> That's with

00:50by myself and the and the uh at large

00:53counselors.

00:54>> I Yes.

00:56Okay. Thank you. Counselor Aaron Reid.

01:00>> Thank you, Madam President. I have items

01:0318 through 22.

01:06Um I All of them are ready to go unless

01:08anyone has questions.

01:12I don't think we had questions to follow

01:14up with, correct? No.

01:16>> No. I don't I mean unless there's any

01:17No. No. Okay. Uh Counselor Moore.

01:20>> Thank you,

01:21Madam President. I have item 23 and it

01:24is ready to go unless anyone has

01:26questions.

01:28>> Hearing none, Counselor

01:30Is he here? Jimmy No. Counselor Montes

01:32for Counselor Williams.

01:34>> President Paniagua. Counselor Williams

01:35has 24 through 28. Are there any

01:37questions on those outstanding?

01:39>> I have a quick question on 24.

01:44Is Evan here? Hi.

01:51So, just in terms of me understanding

01:52the sequence of events, we did get this

01:54through the state and now we are

01:57basically approving it at this level.

02:00>> Uh good afternoon, Council. Evan Loving,

02:01budget director. Yes, the Council passed

02:04a home rule ordinance during the

02:05legislative session to say we would like

02:07to do this. The state passed it and

02:08asked them back to us for a final

02:10certification.

02:11>> And 2% is what we had wanted in terms of

02:13the percentage for the hotel tax. Okay.

02:16And we have less hotels now than we did

02:18when we passed the home rule.

02:21>> Could not say off the top of my head. I

02:22can tell you how much we expect to make

02:24in revenue in terms of the actual number

02:26of rooms, I could not say.

02:28>> Do we have any

02:30new hotel projects coming through that

02:32we are aware of in terms of increasing

02:34revenue over the years?

02:37>> Couldn't speak to that offhand, but I

02:38can get you some information on it.

02:40>> We have a new one going in at the end of

02:41the

02:42>> I think and that's too

02:44>> If If you want If you want, we can put

02:46together some projections.

02:47>> This is a flat tax, right? It's a 2%

02:49percentage, no increases. So, we would

02:50have to do another home rule action if

02:52we wanted to increase it in the future.

02:54>> Yes. In theory, if if hotel either the

02:56number of hotel units or the prices of

02:58those hotel rooms were to increase, you

03:00would generate new revenue. If you

03:01wanted to generate new revenue with an

03:03increased percentage, we would probably

03:05look to do that when this is up for

03:07renewal.

03:07>> And I don't right now, I just I'm

03:08curious about how the process came to

03:10be. Thank you.

03:11>> Yep. And we have This is going to be

03:12introduced in table, so you have a

03:13couple weeks if you just want to throw

03:14some numbers together.

03:15>> No, no, no. No, this is a state This is

03:17a state home rule, so we have to we have

03:19to roll with them. You know, that's So,

03:21this is a state to state um

03:24This time they

03:26they

03:27they done

03:29They went up one year, so it's three

03:30years now. Joe Moore can speak Joe is

03:32here, he can speak on it more so about

03:34the

03:36occupancy. He just walked in.

03:40You could You want to speak a little bit

03:42about um

03:43the local law for occupancy stat?

03:45>> It's 24.

03:46>> 24.

03:47>> Yeah.

03:48Yeah, it's

03:49Yeah, we don't do the

03:51>> This is a state.

03:52>> Right.

03:54>> Good afternoon. Joe Barry, first

03:56assistant corporation

03:57counsel.

03:59Um

04:00when the hotel tax was originally

04:02enacted, the state legislature did it

04:06with a two-year sunset.

04:07>> Mhm.

04:08>> Which is pretty common for them in a lot

04:10of legislative matters.

04:12So, uh

04:14last spring, if you recall, the council

04:16did a home rule message to request that

04:19it be extended.

04:20>> Right.

04:21>> Um if the state suggested three years

04:24this time.

04:25So, by today's action, we're amending

04:27our local law to conform to the state

04:30legislation, which did pass and was

04:32signed by the governor extending it to

04:35the three years. But, the city has to

04:37implement that on the local level.

04:40>> Thank you.

04:41>> Okay. And right, I mentioned something

04:42about the 2%. You want to comment on the

04:452%?

04:47>> The 2%?

04:49>> Yeah, the tax on

04:50>> So, basically, why 2% not 5% on stuff

04:52like that?

04:53>> This is the state.

04:54>> The rate of the tax.

04:56>> The cap.

04:57>> Right.

04:58>> That's the highest you can go, right?

05:00>> At a time? No, this is separate from

05:02property taxes.

05:03>> Okay.

05:03>> Yeah, this is a separate matter. The the

05:05tax rate was set by the state

05:07legislature.

05:07>> Right. That's what I I wanted

05:10>> Um that's the rate we we agreed to at

05:13the time when it was originally enacted,

05:16and this is just an extension of that

05:18previous rate.

05:19>> And the county was at 4% at the time?

05:22Was the county at 3% or 4%?

05:24>> Uh the county's a little different. They

05:26have a

05:27They've had a hotel tax rate

05:30for many years, going back about 10

05:32years. Although, to some extent, that

05:34might be dedicated to their tourism

05:37fund.

05:38Not be a general revenue.

05:40But, it's really the

05:41the the city that town of DeWitt and the

05:44town of Skaneateles have this version of

05:47the tax. I believe we all have the same

05:49rate.

05:50>> Okay.

05:52>> Well, thank you, Joe.

05:55>> Am I all set?

05:56>> All set.

05:57>> Okay. Counselor Montoya.

05:58>> I

05:59I have 29 and 30.

06:01>> And those are ready. Um I also have two

06:04on the waiver agenda to confirm uh

06:06Counselor Jones-Rowser and Counselor

06:08Caldwell uh to the Heritage Syracuse

06:10Housing Strategies Corporation board.

06:13And those will be ready as well.

06:16>> All right. Is there anything else?

06:18All right. Motion to adjourn.

06:20>> So moved.

06:21>> All in favor?

06:22>> Aye.

06:23>> Thank you.