The Mathews County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a transient occupancy tax ordinance during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Under the ordinance, guests staying in hotels, motels, inns, hostelries, tourist homes, rooming houses, campgrounds, or other lodging places for fewer than 30 consecutive days will be assessed a 2 percent lodging tax on their bill.

During the public hearing, two people spoke and both expressed support for the lodging tax. Emily Allen of Susan, who serves as executive director of the Mathews County Visitor & Information Center, pointed out that the county relies heavily on real estate taxes for revenue, which she described as dangerous, given the drop in real estate values that has occurred in various localities.

“A travel-related tax can help with the unpredictability of real estate values,” she said.

Surrounding localities all having lodging tax ordinances, said Allen, and there is no research that shows such a tax affects their abi...