Batavia Now Going To Join Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and More as City Weighs New 3% Lodging Tax on Tourists

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Batavia Now Going To Join Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and More as City Weighs New 3% Lodging Tax on Tourists because local officials are moving towards a visitor-funded revenue model already established across many U.S. destinations. The proposed Batavia levy would add 3% to eligible hotel, motel and other short-stay accommodation charges. It would sit on top of Genesee County’s existing 3% bed tax, potentially creating a 6% combined local occupancy-tax layer before ordinary sales taxes. A public hearing is scheduled for 26 October 2026, meaning the proposal is not yet an automatic charge on travellers.

What Exactly Is Batavia Proposing for Hotel Guests?

Batavia is considering a 3% hotel and motel room occupancy tax calculated on the daily rental price of qualifying accommodation.

New York State’s authorising legislation defines covered lodging broadly, including hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and other facilities providing overnight accommodation. The operative statutory language limits the city rate to 3% of the per-day room charge.

For travellers, the calculation would be straightforward.

A $200 room would therefore produce an additional $6 city lodging charge if the law is adopted.

The key point is that this tax would apply to accommodation, not unrelated spending such as restaurant meals or entertainment.

Why Could Visitors Face More Than a 3% Increase?

Batavia’s proposed tax would not replace Genesee County’s existing hotel levy.

The county already imposes a 3% bed tax. If the city adopts its additional 3%, a $100 taxable room could generate:

• $3 in Genesee County bed tax;
• $3 in Batavia city occupancy tax;
• $6 in combined local occupancy taxes.

That calculation comes before normal state and local sales taxes.

This distinction is important because a headline describing a “3% tax” can make the traveller impact appear smaller than the complete local tax stack.

For example, a guest paying $300 per night would face $9 in proposed city lodging tax alone, with the existing county levy adding another $9.

The final room bill would therefore depend on every applicable tax layer, not only Batavia’s proposed charge.

How Does Batavia Compare With Major U.S. Tourism Cities?

Batavia’s proposed 3% city rate is modest when compared with several established U.S. visitor destinations.

Cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco already impose city transient-occupancy taxes around 14%, while Austin charges an 11% city hotel tax before the separate Texas state levy. Denver’s lodger tax is also above 10%.

That means Batavia would be joining an established U.S. municipal-tax model rather than introducing something unusual.

Even with Genesee County’s existing 3% levy added, its 6% combined local occupancy layer would remain below several big-city lodging-tax structures.

Why Does Batavia Want the Additional Revenue?

New York State’s legislative sponsor memorandum describes the purpose as creating a locally generated revenue source without relying entirely on property taxes paid by city residents.

The authorised uses can include infrastructure, public services, community improvements, economic-development initiatives and tourism-related activity.

The underlying policy argument is simple: overnight visitors use public infrastructure and services, so a lodging tax allows part of those costs to be funded through visitor spending.

This approach is common across major tourism cities. Hotel taxes can support destination marketing, public safety, convention infrastructure, transport improvements and other municipal services.

For Batavia, the proposal could therefore provide a direct city revenue stream linked specifically to overnight demand rather than relying solely on county-level bed-tax collections.

How Important Is Tourism to the Batavia and Genesee County Economy?

Official Empire State Development data shows that tourism is already economically significant across Genesee County.

In 2024, visitors generated approximately:

Visitor spending increased from roughly $140.2 million in 2023 to $144.5 million in 2024.

Those figures help explain why even a relatively small additional lodging tax can matter financially.

A 3% levy theoretically produces $30,000 for every $1 million in taxable room revenue, $150,000 for $5 million and $300,000 for $10 million. These are mathematical illustrations rather than official Batavia revenue forecasts.

Who Would Be Exempt From the Proposed Tax?

The state law provides an important long-stay exemption.

A guest occupying a room for at least 30 consecutive days is treated as a permanent resident for purposes of the law and would not pay the city occupancy tax. Certain government-related transactions can also qualify for exemptions.

That means the tax is aimed primarily at short-term tourism and business stays rather than longer residential accommodation.

The final local law will also determine administrative details such as registration, filing schedules, collection procedures and potential penalties.

Short-term rentals could potentially fall within the city’s scope because the state authorisation does not limit the tax exclusively to conventional hotels.

For Airbnb-style operators, that means the final Batavia rules could become especially important.

When Will Batavia Decide?

The public hearing is scheduled for Monday, 26 October 2026 at 5:30pm in the City Council Board Room.

The proposal had already advanced through council action on 13 October, when Local Law No. 3 was moved towards the required public-hearing stage.

New York State had previously authorised Batavia to impose the tax through legislation signed on 21 August 2026. The State Senate approved the measure by 47 votes to 13.

However, state approval does not itself create the tax.

Batavia City Council still has to enact the local law.

Another important detail is that the current state authorisation is scheduled to expire on 1 September 2027 unless lawmakers extend or amend it.

Which major U.S. cities already impose hotel occupancy taxes?

These examples show that Batavia’s proposed 3% rate would be relatively modest compared with larger U.S. visitor destinations.

Los Angeles charges a 14% transient occupancy tax

The City of Los Angeles currently imposes a 14% Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT, on lodging rented to visitors for 30 days or less.

The rule covers:

• hotels;
• motels;
• vacation rentals;
• short-term rentals;
• houses, condominiums and rooms rented to transient guests.

Property operators must register with the city, collect the tax from guests and remit it to the Office of Finance.

For a traveller, the calculation is straightforward:

So a $300 room carries $42 in city hotel tax before any other separate fees.

That is more than four times Batavia’s proposed 3% rate.

San Francisco also imposes a 14% hotel tax

San Francisco imposes a 14% Transient Occupancy Tax on accommodations rented for stays of less than 30 days.

The tax applies not only to conventional hotels but also to short-term residential rentals. The city says hotel operators and hosts are responsible for collecting and remitting the tax.

The city also has a Tourism Improvement District assessment, which can create an additional lodging-related charge for qualifying properties.

San Francisco’s government notes that the TOT applies to hotel rooms, private residences and other spaces rented to transient visitors.

A $250 room generates:

$250 × 14% = $35 in city occupancy tax.

That demonstrates how substantial lodging taxes can become in major tourism cities.

Austin has one of the highest city hotel-tax rates

Austin’s municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax is 11%.

The city explains that this is made up of:

• 9% hotel occupancy tax
• 2% venue project tax

Texas separately imposes a 6% state hotel occupancy tax, bringing the basic combined city-and-state rate to approximately 17% before any other applicable charges.

For example:

Austin’s tax applies to charges connected with the use, cleaning and preparation of a hotel room. Permanent residents generally qualify for an exemption when they meet the city’s 30-consecutive-day requirements.

That is a useful comparison with Batavia because both systems exempt or treat long-term occupants differently from ordinary tourists.

Denver charges visitors 10.75%

Denver has a 10.75% Lodger’s Tax on temporary accommodation.

The tax applies to hotel, motel and similar stays of fewer than 30 consecutive days. The city’s official lodger’s-tax form instructs operators to multiply taxable lodging sales by 10.75%.

Denver has also historically directed portions of lodging-tax revenue towards:

• tourism promotion;
• general city services;
• convention-related infrastructure;
• National Western Center redevelopment;
• Colorado Convention Center improvements.

Official city budget documents state that Visit Denver receives a portion of the revenue, while other portions support city funds and capital obligations. That illustrates one of the central policy arguments behind hotel taxes: visitors help fund the infrastructure and destination-marketing systems that support tourism.

New York City uses both a percentage and nightly charge

New York City takes a different approach.

Its Hotel Room Occupancy Tax is:

5.875% of the room rate, plus a fixed daily charge depending on the room price.

For rooms costing $40 or more per night, the additional city charge is $2 per room per day.

For a $200 hotel room:

• percentage occupancy tax: $11.75
• fixed nightly tax: $2
• total NYC occupancy tax: $13.75

That is before other state and local sales taxes.

New York City’s occupancy tax has existed since 1970. The city has historically described the logic as requiring visitors to contribute towards municipal services and tourism-development initiatives.

The city once collected hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the tax. For example, the NYC Comptroller reported $369.1 million in hotel room occupancy tax revenue in fiscal year 2010.

Phoenix combines city, county and state hotel taxes

Phoenix provides a particularly useful example because its official tax chart clearly breaks the rate into components.

For transient lodging of 29 consecutive days or less, the official 2025 tax schedule lists:

• Phoenix: 5.3%
• Arizona state: 5.5%
• county: 1.77%
• combined rate: 12.57%

That means a $200 room generates approximately:

$25.14 in combined lodging-related tax.

Phoenix defines the lodging category broadly to include hotels, motels, apartments and vacation rentals charging guests for stays of 29 days or less.

This is another reason a headline focusing only on a “city tax” can understate what travellers actually pay.

Portland has a 6% city lodging tax but a much higher total

Portland imposes a 6% City of Portland Transient Lodgings Tax. Of that:

• 5% goes to the city General Fund;
• 1% goes to Travel Portland for tourism promotion.

Multnomah County adds 5.5%, while Oregon adds another lodging-tax component. Portland’s official tourism page says the total lodging-tax rate through 31 December 2026 is 13%.

The total is scheduled to rise to 14.25% from 1 January 2027.

Portland also has a 3% Tourism Improvement District assessment on taxable lodging revenue for qualifying operators, which may be passed on to guests if separately disclosed.

The city says lodging taxes contributed $23.7 million to Portland’s General Fund during the 2023–2025 fiscal period.

That money helps fund services including parks and public safety.

How does Batavia compare with these cities?

Batavia’s proposed tax would sit near the lower end.

Even when Batavia’s existing 3% Genesee County bed tax is added, the combined local occupancy-tax layer would be about 6%, still below the city-only rates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and Denver.

That does not mean travellers would pay only 6% total, because ordinary state and local sales taxes can still apply.

What do these cities use hotel taxes for?

The purposes differ, but several themes recur.

Cities commonly use lodging-tax revenue for:

• tourism promotion;
• convention centres;
• stadium or venue projects;
• transportation;
• public safety;
• parks;
• general municipal services;
• tourism-related infrastructure.

Austin dedicates part of its tax to venue projects.

Denver directs portions towards tourism promotion and convention-related projects.

Portland allocates revenue to the General Fund and Travel Portland.

San Francisco collects its hotel tax into city revenue systems while separately administering tourism-district assessments.

The underlying idea is broadly similar to Batavia’s proposal: visitors contribute towards local services and destination development rather than placing the entire financial burden on residents.

Do short-term rentals pay too?

In many cities, yes.

Los Angeles explicitly applies its 14% tax to vacation rentals and other short-term accommodation.

San Francisco applies its 14% tax to short-term residential rentals as well as hotels.

Austin requires short-term rental operators to obtain licences and collect applicable lodging tax.

Portland’s system similarly covers hotels, motels, B&Bs, vacation rentals and short-term rentals.

This matters for Batavia because its eventual local law will need to specify how broadly the 3% tax applies, how platforms collect it and which operators must register.

The most useful takeaway for Batavia travellers

Batavia would not be introducing an unusual concept.

Large U.S. tourism cities have long relied on hotel taxes, and many charge substantially more:

• 14% in Los Angeles
• 14% in San Francisco
• 11% in Austin
• 10.75% in Denver
• 6% in Portland
• 5.3% in Phoenix
• 5.875% plus a nightly fee in New York City

Batavia’s proposed 3% city levy, even when combined with Genesee County’s existing 3% bed tax, would therefore remain relatively modest compared with several major U.S. destinations.

The bigger issue is not simply the percentage. Travellers should look at the total final room tax, because city, county, state and tourism-assessment layers can stack together. Austin, for example, reaches at least 17% city + state, while Phoenix’s official combined lodging rate is 12.57%. Portland’s total lodging-tax rate is currently 13% and is scheduled to rise to 14.25% in 2027.

Comment From Anup Keshan, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Travel And Tour World

“Batavia’s proposed lodging tax reflects a model already widely used across major U.S. tourism cities, where visitors contribute directly towards the infrastructure, services and destination development that support their stay. A 3% city rate is relatively modest compared with markets such as Los Angeles, San Francisco or Austin, although travellers should always look at the total final tax after county and state charges are added. For Batavia, the proposal could create a new visitor-funded revenue stream at a time when Genesee County tourism is already generating substantial economic activity. Transparency about how the revenue is collected and spent will be important for both travellers and local businesses.”

Conclusion: Why Is Batavia Moving Towards a Hotel Tax Used Across Major U.S. Cities?

Batavia Now Going To Join Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and More as City Weighs New 3% Lodging Tax on Tourists because local officials want a dedicated visitor-funded source of revenue.

The cause is straightforward: tourism generates demand for infrastructure and services, while the city wants alternatives to relying solely on resident property taxes. The answer is a proposed 3% occupancy levy on qualifying short stays.

Combined with Genesee County’s existing 3% tax, Batavia visitors could face a 6% local occupancy-tax layer. Yet the rate would remain relatively modest compared with several major U.S. cities.

With Genesee County tourism generating $144.5 million in visitor spending and supporting 2,560 jobs, the policy has clear economic relevance.