Rutherford County, NC Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Section 16-12 of the County Code is a single operative sentence: effective January 1, 2018, there is levied a six percent occupancy tax. It replaced an earlier rate; the county's own Appendix F fee schedule still lists a 3% figure for section 16-12 that predates the 2018 increase. The occupancy tax funds the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority, which section 2-21 establishes as a ten-member board appointed by the Board of Commissioners, consistent with the requirements of Session Law 2011-115, House Bill 414. Board members serve three-year terms, capped at two consecutive terms, running from July 1 to June 30, with vacancies filled by the Board of Commissioners.

Section 2-21(b) confirms the board had previously adopted a resolution establishing the tourism development authority and levying the occupancy tax pursuant to that earlier legislation, meaning the current 6% figure sits on top of that original authorization. The county code itself does not spell out which specific lodging arrangements the occupancy tax reaches; that base is set in the enabling state legislation the county references rather than restated in the local ordinance. Operators should treat section 16-12's 6% rate as the county-level lodging tax due on the room charge, remitted through whatever collection process the Tourism Development Authority and county tax office administer under the cited session law.