The tourist fee set up in Percé last May made it possible to collect $155,000, a sum well below the expected million due in particular to the lack of cooperation from merchants.
“We were aware that our projections would not be reached in year 1,” said Mayor Cathy Poirier. That said, we have to admit: we were hoping for greater participation from merchants. Under the regulations, it is up to them to collect the new tax.
In its report, the municipality estimates that “a little more than 90” of them “have joined the municipal register” set up to collect the fee of $1 provided for each transaction of $20 or more. Of this number, 70 paid the sums collected to the municipality – that is 57% of the 123 merchants in Percé.
“In the 53 businesses that have not returned anything, we do not know how many have collected the fee and kept it in their safe,” laments the mayor. Recalcitrant traders face fines ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 per day, depending on the violations committed.
The amount collected thanks to the new collection should however “grow significantly” over the next few weeks, hopes the municipality, since additional payments are expected.
A controversial fee
Such a royalty remains unprecedented in Quebec – and a source of anger in Percé. Opposing merchants are worried about seeing the municipality assume the power to consult their balance sheet and impose a tax that applies as much to Gaspesians shopping in Percé as to tourists.
Some also feared that the fee would scare away visitors – an apprehension challenged by the 2022 traffic, which exceeds the attendance recorded in the region by 2.2% compared to the “exceptional” year 2021.
From May to September, “despite the reopening of international borders”, approximately 570,000 tourists visited Gaspésie. This influx, especially in the summer, puts significant pressure on the finances of Percé, which must spend $800,000 — or about 10% of its budget — to build and maintain its tourist infrastructure.
The fee is intended as a means of diversifying the municipality’s income so that the 3,000 Perceans are no longer the only ones to bear the burden of welcoming these tourists. The new tax does not apply to residents of Percé or to people from outside who work there.
Cathy Poirier specifies that other mayors, in particular that of Tadoussac, are inquiring to find out how Percé set up its fee. Over there, says M.me Poirier, it is the merchants themselves who ask the municipality for it.
The mayor of Percé, meanwhile, is sorry for the lack of cooperation from certain merchants. “It’s a shame because it will force us to look elsewhere for the money we need for our tourism infrastructure. »
Several merchants in Percé, resistant to the new regulations, seized the Superior Court to challenge its validity. The municipality specifies that it is waiting for the judgment to carry out checks and sanction the offenders. The court must render its decision in the coming months.