Cheektowaga Imposing New Taxes On Hotel Rooms

It's the time of year when many cities, towns, and villages in the Empire State start looking at their finances to determine if they have enough money to function in the coming year. The City of Buffalo, for example, has been releasing its updated property assessment data to help figure out how much in property taxes people will pay next year.

The same thing is happening across Western New York, and people in many places around the region should be on the lookout for new taxes and fees coming around in 2026. As Cheektowaga, New York, town officials wrestle with how to fund services in the town, the people who look to visit one of the first-ring suburbs of Buffalo should be prepared to pay a little more money if they need to grab a hotel room in town.

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Like other places in Western New York, the town of Cheektowaga is looking for ways to generate more revenue for the town, and thanks to a new law from Albany, town officials are adding a new tax to hotel rooms in Cheektowaga.

According to reporting from WIVB-TV, town officials are looking to impose an additional 3% hotel bed/occupancy tax on people who stay in hotels in Cheektowaga.

There are estimates that this new tax on visitors will raise more than $1 million in additional cash for the town's bank account, based on the approximate 4,000 hotel rooms in the town, which would help relieve town residents of the burden of paying for their own services.

This is a win for the taxpayers in the Town of Cheektowaga that are homeowners, property taxpayers, families and seniors. This will be relief for them... Conservative estimates for what this could bring in — $1 million a year.
-New York State Assemblyman Patrick Chludzinski, while speaking to WIVB

From 2024 to 2025, the Town of Cheektowaga increased spending by around 6.5%, bringing the town's spending to more than $110 million. That number is expected to increase again for 2026, which is what is driving the new taxes.

As town officials debate the budget, we'll find out in the near future if this tax becomes a reality.