Harckham introduces bill to allow Croton to levy motel and hotel taxes.

Our state senator introduced S7790 on May 6. It may be aimed at a growing number of AirBnB and similar rentals.

New York State Senate.

This past Tuesday, with no apparent publicity or fanfare, New York State Senator Pete Harckham (D, WF, 40th Senate District) introduced a bill in the senate that would allow Croton-on-Hudson to levy a tax on motel and hotel rooms. The full legislation, Senate Bill 7790 of 2025, can be accessed here. A summary of the legislation reads as follows:

BILL NUMBER: S7790

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to authorizing the village of
Croton-on-Hudson to impose a hotel and motel tax; and providing for the
repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To authorize the village of Croton-on-Hudson to impose a local occupancy
tax on hotels and motels, providing the town with an additional revenue
source to support local services, infrastructure, and tourism-related
initiatives.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the tax law by adding a new section of 1202-zz-2,
granting the village of Croton-on-Hudson the authority to impose a hotel
and motel occupancy tax. Additionally, this section states the defi-
nition of both "hotel" and "motel".
              

Since as far as we know Croton currently only has one hotel or motel (the Watergate Motor Inn at Furnace Dock Road and Albany Post Road), some of our sources have speculated that the new law is intended to address an uptick in local AirBnB and VRBO rentals in reaction to the recent passage of the Good Cause Eviction Law.

The proposed legislation defines a hotel or motel room as follows:

“For the purposes of this section the term ‘hotel’ or ‘motel’ shall mean any facility or portion thereof where single rooms or suites of rooms are rented or hired out to be occupied or which are occupied by transient guests who are lodged overnight, with or without meals, for sleeping purposes for compensation, whether the compensation be paid directly or indirectly and shall include those facilities designated and commonly known as ‘bed and breakfast’ and ‘tourist’ facilities.”

The tax would not exceed three percent of the daily rate for the room, and would not be applied to a “permanent resident” of the room, defined as someone who was staying for “at least ninety consecutive days.” The proposed bill includes some exceptions to the tax, for example for organizations that are engaged in religious, charitable, or educational activities.

We asked Mayor Brian Pugh—who is also chief-of-staff to Senator Harckham—to explain the rationale and timing of the proposed legislation. He wrote:

“The Board of Trustees is considering adopting a local law concerning short-term rentals (eg Air BNB). We would like to have the OPTION of taxing such short term rentals in the same manner that other localities tax traditional hotels as part of such a local regulatory program for short-term rentals. In order to do so, we need authorization from New York State. For that reason, the Village Manager has requested ‘home rule’ legislation to empower the Village to make its own decision in this area. In general, these home rule bills are taken up in the final days of the legislative session in June and, if passed, signed into law by the governor in the fall. In the past, when the Village is granted such home rule authority, as we were in the case of the residential parking system, the Board deliberated for some time before determining how to use the power delegated to our village government to best serve the community.”

It appears that villagers will have ample opportunity for input into these decisions as things go forward. The Chronicle, as always, will keep the community informed.

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