The Harford County Council held a public hearing this week on legislation to impose a lodging tax in the county. Harford County is the only county that does not have a lodging tax already in place.

As reported by the Baltimore Sun,

Harford County residents and community leaders largely supported a proposed 6 percent lodging tax for the county, which would be charged to guests staying in Harford hotels for up to 30 days.

…

The move would put Harford in line with all other Maryland jurisdictions, and many local officials, especially tourism leaders, have long pushed for the legislation to help drive tourism revenue.

The tax, which would apply to stays of less than 30 days on all of the county’s 2,713 hotel rooms, is expected to generate about $2.75 million in annual revenue for the county.

This revenue would be shared with municipalities.

Fifty percent of the hotel tax collected from a hotel within a municipality – Aberdeen, Bel Air or Havre de Grace – will be paid to the municipality. The remaining balance of the revenue will go to the county and be dedicated to funding tourism.