The Municipality of Wawa's moving toward a special tax on short-term accommodations.
In one of four meetings held Tuesday night, Community Services and Tourism Director Alex Patterson delivered what he dubbed his "final" report on the proposed "Municipal Accommodation Tax", noting he'd held more consultations on it than any other topic in his career, with response essentially breaking down into four groups: motels on Highway 17 coming into town, who were "neutral" but not in favour of implementing a MAT at this time; motels in town that were simply against the MAT; other short-term accommodations, who were generally in favour; and local committees like the Municipality's Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee, which are in favour, seeing the potential benefits of a MAT.
In the end, Patterson recommended moving forward with the MAT - saying despite the negative feedback, it doesn't outweight the positives - but he did recommend delaying its implementation to the second quarter of 2025 (starting April 1st) with Council giving him direction to move forward on preparing the by-law, which could be brought to a vote later this year.
While most councillors spoke in favour of the MAT - Mayor Melanie Pilon acknowledging it's a "very divisive issue", but adding she believes the benefits "speak loudly, and it is something that was a major goal of the Municipality's strategic plan - Councillor Joe Opato did raise questions about enforcement, with Patterson explaining there are some ways to determine whether short-term accommodations are following the rules and measures could be taken through by-law enforcement or collections, but there is obviously a reliance on good faith, which he noted should be bolstered by ensuring people understand the benefits of the funds.
Under provincial law, half of the funds would go to municipal coffers to support tourism, and the other to a third-party "tourism entity" - Patterson has proposed setting up a new entity that would include representation from Council or Municipal staff, accommodation operators, and the public.