Both Aiken County and the City of Aiken could receive around $18,000 if a South Carolina judge approves a settlement between several local jurisdictions and some of the top hotel booking websites for unpaid accommodations taxes.
In July 2013, several counties and cities, including Aiken and Charleston counties, brought a class action lawsuit against a handful of online hotel sites, including Priceline, Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz, claiming these sites were holding the accommodations tax funds and fees collected instead of turning them over to local governments.
Although initial court documents state the sites denied any wrongdoing, the companies and the local governments did reach a settlement deal, which would send funds back to local jurisdictions of what they would have collected before Aug. 1, 2014.
Because the suit was filed as a class action, it means other local governments, including the cities of Aiken and North Augusta, could also tack onto the suit if affected.
"These sites buy hotel rooms from hotels who can't fill their rooms, and sometimes these sites call the fee an accommodations tax or a service fee; but these sites were then keeping the tax as a service fee and weren't sending it back to the local jurisdictions," Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian said.
Aiken County and the cities of Aiken and North Augusta each collect a 3 percent accommodations tax, which are the gross proceeds from the rental or charges for any hotel rooms, campground spaces, lodgings or sleeping accommodations. Those funds, which are to be given back to those local governments, are then turned around to fund tourism-related projects, infrastructure or recreational needs.
The settlement between both parties is awaiting a judge's approval. If approved, Aiken County would receive a little more than $18,000 - $8,000 for the settlement and an additional $10,000 for being a lead plaintiff. The City of Aiken would also receive about $18,000, because most hotels sit inside City limits, and the City of North Augusta, if approved, would receive nearly $1,400.
Other lead plaintiffs, including the City of Columbia, would receive about $302,000 and the City of North Charleston would receive about $240,000. Charleston County, known for its tourism, is set to receive close to $1.2 million.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.