Williamsburg diners, event-goers and visitors will see higher surcharges this year.
The city is increasing meals and hotel taxes and introducing a tax on event tickets. It brings Williamsburg’s meals tax to 6.5% and lodging to 7% on top of the 7% Virginia sales tax in the Historic Triangle region. The city will also tack on up to $1 to non-school-related event tickets.
“It’s not the most exciting thing to move forward, but definitely necessary,” Councilmember Ayanna Williams said during a Thursday meeting.
Council signaled in May that the bump was coming when it approved a 2026 budget that hinged on the revenue. The board had to wait until the new year, when a state moratorium on excise tax increases expired; it had been put in place when the General Assembly approved a 1% tax for the nearly complete Greater Williamsburg Sports and Events Center.
The money is needed to fix a “structural imbalance” in Williamsburg’s capital upgrades budget, City Manager Andrew Trivette said in May.
The city pays for much of that work with sales tax revenue. And while collections continue to grow, so do expenses. Project labor and materials costs have increased. Coupled with new expenses ranging from new library and school funds to employee raises, along with slowing revenue streams elsewhere, the city’s finances have tightened.
In recent years, Williamsburg has kicked in revenue from its general fund and even COVID relief.
“Unfortunately, we’ve exhausted those funds now and we need to address it more long-term,” Trivette said in May.
Tourist areas often use hotel and meals taxes to increase revenue. Virginia Beach similarly bumped meals taxes in 2025. Proponents argue it spreads the tax burden to visitors, which Williamsburg anticipates seeing a lot of this year as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches.
The city’s hoteliers and restaurateurs, however, are divided.
Several restaurant owners and chefs railed against raising taxes last year. Former Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association President Noreen Graziano argued the additional cost will drive people to eat out of town and put establishments out of business.
“Let’s raise taxes where taxes are the lowest,” she said. “The current real estate and personal property taxes are among the lowest in the area.”
Ron Kirkland, executive director of the Williamsburg Hotel and Motel Association, supports the city’s project goals and said that increasing property tax rates would be a bigger hit to the hospitality industry. He doesn’t expect the additional surcharge to deter anyone from visiting Williamsburg.
“If your budget is $200 for a hotel room, a few dollars in tax is not going to cause you to stay somewhere else,” Kirkland said.
Williamsburg in May lowered the meals tax increase by half a percentage point from its initial proposal and capped the ticket tax at $1 after hearing opposition. The city will give businesses a 2% discount on their total meal, ticket and lodging tax collections to help cover credit card fees and administrative costs. Williamsburg also cut 34 capital projects from its plans.
Some residents, however, still think the city’s plans are too big for the community.
“Moving forward, let’s look at some of these CIP projects, because they just may be too expensive for our small community,” Sabrina Fairbanks said at the meeting.
