County staff are reporting a stunning increase in short term stays last year over the previous one. Total revenues from hotels, STAs, and Bed and Breakfasts in 2025 were $47.2 million, up from $32 million in 2024.

Likewise, the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT), the four percent tax on revenues collected by short-term accommodators, generated $1,889,000 in 2025, an increase of almost $600,000 over 2024, when the MAT collected was $1,296,000.

Lindsay Cutler, Revenue Services Supervisor, reported 2025 MAT revenue to Council at its April 7th meeting. An outstanding MAT sum of close to $350,000 was not included in the final 2025 tally because it had not been collected by December 31st, even though it had been reported by STA owners. 

The report includes a quarterly breakdown of monies collected and rooms available versus rooms booked. In general, only about a third of rooms available were booked over the course of the year. 

After subtracting administrative expenses of $149,000, total MAT revenue available for 2026 is $1,763,000. Half of that amount stays with the County, and the other half is distributed between the County’s tourism marketing organizations; the lion’s share goes to Visit the County and a fraction to StayPEC. The staff report did not include final totals to be distributed.

All MAT revenues are intended to fund tourism-related projects. In the absence of a municipal framework to govern its share of revenues, however, the majority of the County’s share goes to roadworks. During this year’s budget deliberations, Council approved transferring  $1,215,000 to road repairs. 

A further $150,000 went to the OPP to make up for an unexpected hike in the municipal contribution to the police budget. 

In 2025, Council approved using its share of 2024 MAT revenues to pay for a service agreement with U-ride, seasonal washrooms, the PEC Arts Fund, and projects stemming from the Tourism Management Plan. The remaining $401,229 went into the MAT reserve, from where it eventually made its way to the roads. 

Public Consultations

Councillor MacNaughton asked for further details on planned public consultations this spring on MAT spending priorities, following a motion approved over a year ago, in March 2025, but Ms. Cutler did not have an answer.

County spokesperson Mark Kerr noted details haven’t been finalized yet.

CAO Adam Goheen said public consultations will contribute to creating a more consistent roadmap for how the MAT will be spent in future years.

“We’ll come back with a fulsome report that will give Council some ideas in terms of a framework for where the money can go,” he said.

In the Details

Councillor Phil St-Jean wanted the breakdown to show the difference between the number of owner-occupied and whole home STAs.

“It’s a very important number that needs to be accurate,” he said, noting that while many connect STAs to the housing crisis, some homeowners are renting out a room or two to help with carrying costs.

Of the County’s 814 licensed STAs, Mr. Kerr confirmed there are 285 primary, or owner-occupied, licenses and 515 secondary, or whole home, licenses.

Councillor Brad Nieman wondered how many STAs might be running unlicensed and whether the County is collecting all the MAT it is entitled to. 

“Those that don’t submit their MAT tax are unable to renew their STA license,” Ms. Cutler said. She added that operators of illegal STAs are required to remit MAT on their earnings when they are discovered. 

This year, the STA Licensing division is switching the software it uses to track illegal accommodations. It currently uses a program called HAMARI to scour online listings and identify unlicensed units. 

The new software, Nuemo Short-term Rental, is expected to do a better job identifying active and inactive listings, and integrate records of MAT remittances with the listing database. 

“There have been a couple of problems with Harami overscrubbing and old ads caught by Harami or the software perhaps overacting a little,” Councillor Kate MacNaughton noted. 

She looked for further confirmation that the new software would address this, but Ms. Cutler said she would have to refer the question to the STA Licensing division.