Cecil County, MD Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 6% (Fiscal Year 2018 rate, § 337-34)
- Adopted
- June 6, 2017, Bill No. 2017-09
- Imposing authority
- County Council, at County Executive's request
- Collector
- County Executive and Director of Finance
- Effective date
- July 1, 2017, ongoing until changed
Summary
Cecil County charges a 6% hotel rental tax on stays at hotels within the population centers the county has identified for the tax. The County Council imposed the rate by resolution at the request of the County Executive for fiscal year 2018, and § 337-36 keeps that rate in effect until the county or the state changes it.
§ 337-34. Imposition of tax; rate. A. The County Council, at the request of the County Executive, may impose, by resolution, a hotel rental tax. B. That the County hotel rental tax for the taxable year beginning July 1, 2017, and ending June 30, 2018, is hereby imposed on the population centers currently identified by the County and subject to the hotel rental tax. C. That the rate of County hotel rental tax for Fiscal Year 2018 is hereby fixed at 6%. § 337-3 ... 6. ... Effective date. The hotel rental tax rate shall be effective July 1, 2017 and shall continue in effect until changed under the laws of the State of Maryland and/or Cecil County.
Full Breakdown
Article VIII of Chapter 337, Taxation, adopted June 6, 2017 by Bill No. 2017-09, gives Cecil County's hotel rental tax its legal basis. ' The same section fixed the Fiscal Year 2018 rate at 6% of the taxable charge. Section 337-35 assigns collection duties to the County Executive and the Director of Finance, who collect the tax 'in the manner provided by law,' meaning through the county's Department of Finance rather than a separate hotel-tax office. Section 337-36 sets the effective date at July 1, 2017 and keeps the 6% rate running indefinitely, 'until changed under the laws of the State of Maryland and/or Cecil County,' so operators should not assume the rate resets each fiscal year.
Because Bill No. 2017-09 also amended § 20-405(b)(2) of the Local Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the county's hotel tax authority sits alongside, not in place of, state room-tax law. Short-term rental hosts and hotel operators inside the population centers the county has designated for the tax remit the 6% charge to the Department of Finance along with any state and municipal lodging taxes that also apply to the same stay.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 337 does not spell out a separate fine schedule for the hotel rental tax itself; § 337-35 places collection with the County Executive and the Director of Finance 'in the manner provided by law.' The chapter's silence means enforcement runs through the county's standard Department of Finance tax-collection procedures rather than a hotel-tax-specific citation or misdemeanor charge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cecil County's hotel tax rate?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cecil County
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