AUBURN -- A majority of Cayuga County legislators are banking on few travelers noticing a two percent hike in bed tax and more looking to lodging here down the road.

The county Legislature approved raising the tax on hotel and motel room rentals to 5 percent Tuesday. A portion of the revenue generated by the law will go to promoting the county as a tourism and convention destination.

Only Christopher Palermo, R-Sterling, and Steven Cuddeback, R-Niles, opposed the measure in a 9-2 vote.

"Right from the beginning, my constituents in that business were against it," Palermo said afterward.

He said many of those same constituents feel a majority of tourism material focuses on the Finger Lakes and tends to leave out the northern portion of the county bordering Lake Ontario.

Francis Mitchell, R-Genoa, said he reluctantly changed his vote to support the raise in bed tax after hearing from people in his district.

"However, I do not like the premise here and that premise is that people don't pay attention to the bed tax," Mitchell said. "I do and I know others do.

"I think in the long run this may be an error," he said. "I hope that I'm wrong."

Legislators Bernard Smith, R-Throop; David Pappert, R-Auburn, Michael Lepak, D-Auburn; and Steven Netti, R-Auburn, were absent Tuesday.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Citizen.