No, Sandwich’s Mayor is not setting a hotel tax

Government plans would allow strategic authorities to introduce an overnight visitor levy. That does not give Sandwich’s civic mayor power to tax local hotels.

There is understandable scope for confusion in the Government’s latest announcement about a possible “hotel tax”.

The Government says that mayors and leaders of strategic authorities will be able to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy on paid accommodation. The charge would be calculated as a percentage of the cost of a stay, rather than as a flat nightly fee.

But the word mayor is doing a lot of work here.

The Mayor of Sandwich is a town mayor — a civic office associated with Sandwich Town Council. The Government’s proposal concerns mayors of much larger strategic authorities, the regional bodies being created through devolution.

So the Mayor of Sandwich would not personally decide to impose a levy on Sandwich hotels, guest houses or holiday lets.

The distinction matters because Kent and Medway do not currently have an elected strategic mayor. Kent County Council says Kent was not selected for the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme, although devolution remains a possibility in future.

The Government’s September announcement says that mayors and leaders of Foundation Strategic Authorities will be able to decide whether to introduce a levy and how the money should be spent, following consultation with residents and businesses. Legislation is still required before the system comes into force.

That means there is no current Sandwich hotel tax, no published Sandwich rate, and no decision by the Mayor of Sandwich to impose one.

If Kent eventually gains a strategic authority with the relevant powers, a future levy could potentially apply in places such as Sandwich — but that would be a regional decision under the new system, not a tax created at the Guildhall by the town mayor.

The confusion appears to come from national headlines using the shorthand “mayors” without always making clear that they mean regional or strategic-authority mayors, not civic town mayors.

Reported from published sources; research assisted by AI, checked before publication. Corrections: news@sandwichnews.co.uk