Governor Kathy Hochul has signed three local laws sponsored and introduced by Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D-104), enabling the cities of Beacon (A06556) and Poughkeepsie (A06555) to collect—and the Town of Newburgh (A7477) to continue collecting—a hotel-motel tax of up to 5% on Airbnbs as well as hotels, motels, and bed & breakfasts.

Jacobson said, “I thank Governor Hochul for signing these three bills that respectively allow the cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie and the Town of Newburgh to offset the costs of supporting Airbnbs and other overnight hospitality businesses.

“For many years, the Town of Newburgh had asked their prior state representatives to pass this legislation. Three years ago, Senator Skoufis and I were able to get the bill passed, enabling the Town to finally collect this much-needed tax.

“I have since passed the same bill for the City of Newburgh and now for the cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie. This year, I have also successfully passed legislation extending the Town of Newburgh’s ability to collect the tax. Airbnb’s are popping up across the Hudson Valley and the costs of supporting them should not fall on residents. The benefit of this tax is that it is almost exclusively paid by visitors to the area,” Jacobson concluded.