Every dollar helps.

Unless you’re talking about taxes in New York.

Then, every extra dollar collected by the government can be a detriment — to the people who pay the tax, to the local economy and to the overall public perception of the state.

So officials in Saratoga County and the city of Saratoga Springs need to be extra thoughtful about their decision to increase the combined city-county occupancy tax by 50% to raise extra revenue.

Occupancy taxes are additional taxes charged to customers on lodging in hotels and motels and, in a growing number of cases, on short-term rental properties like Airbnbs.

For counties and municipalities, the occupancy tax, otherwise referred to as a “bed tax,” is a........

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