Wildwood hotels suing N.J. on tax issue

You might not get a pool, the flashy neon doo-wop theme and maid service when you rent a condominium in the Wildwoods, but then again, you might not be paying a sales tax, either.

According to the Greater Wildwood Hotel and Motel Association, that's not only unfair, it's also illegal.

The organization, made up of 180 hotels across the island's three municipalities, is filing a lawsuit today against the New Jersey Treasury Department, claiming it has failed to enforce a sales-tax law that the association says applies to condominium rentals and to hotels.

"This has been on the books a long time and it's not being enforced," said Steve Tecco, association president, who owns a hotel in Wildwood Crest.

Tecco said the law clearly states that any rental under 90 days is required to pay the tax, which, in the Wildwoods, adds up to a 7 percent sales tax and 5 percent room tax. The Wildwoods also charge a 2 percent tax for marketing.

The group cited a 2006 study funded by the state that found it was losing an estimated $345 million a year in uncollected taxes from rentals.

Many condominium owners flaunt the lack of a sales tax in their advertising, Tecco said, and they're wrong. Some do collect the tax as an added "rental fee," he said, but it's unclear whether they report it to the state.

"We deserve equal protection under the law," Tecco said.

Several property-management firms in the Wildwoods either declined comment yesterday or didn't return a phone call from the Daily News.

Over the past decade, the Wildwoods resorts have lost more than 4,500 hotel rooms to the wrecking ball, Tecco said, and almost all have been replaced with condominiums.

"We still have 8,500 rooms but there's a lot more competition for all of us now," he said.

The state's Treasury Department referred all calls to the Attorney General's Office. Officials there declined comment, saying they haven't received the lawsuit. *