The Berks County Hotel Room Rental Tax was initially passed by the Berks County Commissioners in March, 1997.  At that time, the Commissioners, pursuant to the authority granted to them by the Pennsylvania Third Class County Convention Center Authority Act of 1994, imposed a tax on room rentals received by operators of hotels at the rate of five percent (5%).  The Ordinance, as adopted in 1997, limited the application of the hotel tax to those hotels located within the “market area”.  The “market area” was defined in the 1997 Ordinance to be the City of Reading and the area within the County that is not more than fifteen (15) miles from the site of the Convention Center (Seventh and Penn Streets). 

The reasons for the imposition of the tax are plain. Our state legislature concluded that the development of the Convention Center was an important factor in the promotion and expansion of business, industry, commerce and tourism in the Berks County area. Since it was acknowledged that the development of the Convention Center provided direct benefits to the hotel industry by increasing the rental of rooms, our state legislators authorized the County to impose this tax. The proceeds of the tax are used to support the Convention Center and to promote tourism in Berks County.

On June 27, 2013, the County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 1-13 which expanded the hotel tax to include all hotels located within Berks County.