St. Catharines mayor talks overnight accommodation tax, Canada Summer Games, Falcons big win

Time for our weekly mayors chat with St. Catharines mayor Walter Sendzik to go over some of the things that have made the news this past week.

First off there is the 4% municipal accommodation tax that Mayor Sendzik says will help support major events in the city, such as the Canada Summer Games, the Brier, the Scottie’s and the Memorial Cup.

“When we host these kinds of large scale events there is a lot of funds that go into from the property tax payers.  The municipal accommodation tax is really about gaining an amount of funds from those who are seeking overnight accommodations in our hotels and then we can build a reserve based on [this tax].”

Speaking of the Canada Summer Games, tickets are now available.  It is going to be the event of a decade for Niagara.

Also in St. Catharines, the Walker Family YMCA is closing its doors, but as a city, they are working with the new developer to see if there is something they can put in it’s place since it is such a central location.

And in good news the St. Catharines Falcons are Sutherland Cup champions.  It is only the second time in it’s 50 year history that they won and it was a magical moment for not only the team, but for the community.