Council modifies agreement with the Huntsville Municipal Accommodation Tax Association

The MAT tax supports tourism initiatives and town amenities

Council modified the financial agreement with the Huntsville Municipal Accommodation Tax Association (HMATA), in the October 27^th, 2025, meeting.

Last June staff were directed to start negotiations with HMATA to renew the two-year agreement “with a percentage breakdown of the net MAT proceeds moving closer to a 50/50 (from the 62/38 split, with 62% going to HMATA and 38% to the Town), according to the staff report.

HMATA Chair, Jeff Suddaby, said the goal for the Association is to increase visitors in the off season and “bring the other month’s up.” He added, “One week of winter revenue is one day of summer revenues,” therefore, the board preferred an increase of the HMATA portion to 65% “to create a vibrant tourism sector in Huntsville.”

However, recent negotiations between staff and HMATA resulted in a staff recommendation of 60/40, which would result in 2% less revenue for the Association, according to the report.

It adds that in July Council also approved a new Budget Principles Policy for MAT, “for more strategic use of the Town’s portion of the MAT revenue.”

Staff advised that once the revenue is generated a portion of it first goes to administrative costs, such as Town salary wages, administrative legal fees, bank charges, and merchant fees for credit card payments, then it’s portioned out to HMATA and the Town.

They also clarified that HMATA tends to use their portion for tourism events, and the Town uses theirs for initiatives to support them, such as “the amenities to support that tourism piece,” like washrooms and parks.

Although moving forward the Association will be getting a smaller portion of the revenue given the financial change, Council members agreed that they have been increasing their focus on strategies for getting more visitors to the Town, which appears to be working and means more potential for an increase in revenue.

Councillor, Helena Renwick, attributed last summer’s busy tourist season to HMATA, indicating, “They had a stellar summer.”

Councillors also agreed that “good things will happen” with the current change and staff will move ahead with the new agreement.