Executive Director of the Center for the Arts of Homer, Ty Marshal, Urges Finance & Administration Committee Not to Divert Occupancy Tax Dollars

Ty Marshal, Executive Director of the Center for the Arts of Homer, Vice Chair of the Cortland Convention and Visitors Bureau, and President of the Statewide Country Music Association, voiced his concerns to the members of the Cortland County Finance & Administration Committee following their intent to divert occupancy tax revenues during their meeting on Tuesday, September 16th.

Marshal says his concerns came from proposed Local Law H, which he says tied in two issues into one law. Marshal told Committee Chair Cathy Bischoff during the meeting Tuesday the move was a “money grab under the guise of a fairness law.” He continued on to say for the committee to put two issues into one law was unfair for the public and participating organizations. Proposed Local Law H would issue an occupancy tax for short-term rentals such as AirBnb and VRBO, but also divert money towards other “economic development.” The proposed local law did not provide a percentage of the funds to be diverted or specifics on where that money would go.

“The occupancy tax was built on a clear covenant: visitors pay it, and communities reinvest it to attract more visitors. That promise has built trust with lodging providers, cultural organizations, and small businesses. It has proven to be an effective economic development strategy. Redirecting funds into a vague “economic development” category or diverting these funds to patch budgets would break that trust, set a dangerous precedent, and undermine long-term growth.” Marshal said in an email to Chair Bischoff and members of the Legislature.

Cortland County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) Executive Director Michelle Enright explained during Tuesday’s meeting how the CVB, also known as Experience Cortland, is funded, its growth, statistics on visitor spending, the impacts of marketing efforts, and the impacts tourism has for the county.

According to Enright, Cortland County saw over $100 million dollars in traveler spending in 2024. The report, which can be found HERE, indicates that tourism spending remains a vital part of the economy for Cortland County. Enright questioned why the county would look to take funds and momentum away from a proven organization that brings in millions of dollars to the county. She continued on with her concern this law could lead to funds slowly being taken to supporting different programs that have nothing to do with tourism.

“At every performance, I hear cheers from Rochester, Buffalo, Watertown, Kingston, Toronto, Erie, Scranton, and beyond. They come here because targeted marketing—funded by occupancy tax dollars—tells them about our events. While here, they dine in local restaurants, shop in stores, fill hotels and short-term rentals, and spread their spending throughout the county. They return for festivals, sporting events, and outdoor recreation, weaving tourism directly into our economic fabric.” Marshal added in his email.

Marshal says Local Law H would weaken the counties competitiveness against neighboring counties who are also trying to attract tourism, it is a short-term fix with long-term damage saying “using visitor dollars for general expenses or vague promises sacrifices future visitor spending, sales tax revenue, and business growth, and creates a broken trust between hotels, motels, short-term rentals hosts, as they agreed to the occupancy tax would promote tourism for further business.” He added the vague language and no accountability in the proposed law could lead to the funding being drained by future legislators.

“Tourism investment works, and we prove it again and again, year after year – we have only seen growth. Institutions like the Center for the Arts of Homer prove that destination marketing attracts visitors, supports businesses, and drives lasting growth. To undermine this system would be shortsighted and harmful.”

The Committee on Tuesday’s meeting ended up rescinding the proposed local law. The County Finance and Administration Committee will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, September 23rd at 9am at the County Office Building, Room 302, to entertain a revised Local Law H amending the occupancy tax to include short-term rentals and divert occupancy tax dollars to other economic development. X101 News reached out to Committee Chair Bischoff for comment and details on percentage the county intends to divert and their definition of economic development. Bischoff referred X101 to the upcoming meeting.

An agenda for the meeting will be posted online at CortlandCountyNY.gov.