HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dauphin County Treasurer Nick DiFrancesco on Wednesday announced a new initiative designed to recover more than $500,000 in unpaid hotel tax debt from "tax scofflaws" he accuses of violating public trust.
At a county commissioner meeting on Wednesday, DiFrancesco said his office has filed a lien on the property of a Swatara Township hotel he says owes over $500,000 in back taxes.
The Red Lion Hotel, located on the 4700 block of Lindle Road, was the subject of an audit conducted by Dauphin County Comptroller Mary Batemen, who found the hotel failed to remit more than half a million dollars in unpaid hotel taxes, DiFrancesco told the commissioners.
“While the majority of hotels in Dauphin County support tourism promotion by collecting and remitting the hotel tax as required by law, there are a select few who collect the tax but fail to remit it,” DiFrancesco said. “This inaction violates the public trust and the trust of their peers.”
After taking office as Treasurer in January, DiFrancesco uncovered several audits from 2022 and 2023 that demanded action. In conjunction with the Dauphin County Solicitor’s Office, DiFrancesco initiated a plan to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in back hotel taxes.
The hotel room tax is collected by hotel management and is required to be remitted monthly to the county for distribution to tourism venues and promotional authorities, including the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Tourism Bureau, to continue to support the tourism industry.
“Given the amount of money owed to the county, I am working with the Dauphin County Solicitor’s Office to protect the interests of the county by filing a lien on the hotel property,” DiFrancesco said. “As public servants, we have an obligation to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth. The majority of our hotels collect and remit their share of the hotel tax, and they benefit from the marketing support dollars generated by their investment.
"Those who collect hotel tax but fail to remit it violate not only the community trust but state law.”
Tourism is a leading industry in Central Pennsylvania.
Visit Hershey and Harrisburg President and CEO Mary Smith praised the enforcement action, citing the impact of destination marketing efforts.
“Tourism drives more than $2.6 billion in positive economic impact annually to Dauphin County and supports more than 26,000 jobs,” said Smith. “We applaud the Treasurer’s efforts to ensure remittance fairness across the industry, as those efforts directly impact our destination marketing campaigns that attract visitors to Dauphin County for family vacations, meetings and conventions, sports tournaments and special events.”
