Hillsborough approves annual fee, inspections for vacation rentals

(The Center Square) – Florida property owners who run short-term vacation rentals in Hillsborough County must register their rental under an ordinance passed Wednesday.

The ordinance, passed unanimously by Hillsborough County commissioners, includes a $200 annual registration fee, and requires property owners to establish a local responsible party and submit to an inspection of their short-term vacation rental by a code enforcement officer.

“This was directly the result of citizen complaints to all of our offices related to parties and, you know, 40 people are next door in the middle of the night all making lots of noise and who can we call to get some relief,” said Commissioner Harry Cohen.

He said the ordinance was just the beginning and that the commission should monitor results and add to it if necessary.

Commissioner Christine Miller said it was clear they were addressing a “needed change” since most of the opposition emails they received were to state that the ordinance wasn’t strict enough.

One public commenter who carried that opinion was Mark Kiddo.

“Paper on the books does not protect a single family, a single guest, or a single neighborhood, until it produces actionable results. Registration without accountability is a list,” said Kiddo.

He said it was a mistake to not include a mandatory safety inspection before registration.

“Short-term rentals have burned, homes have been destroyed, surrounding properties have been damaged. Lives have been put at risk and in some places lost. These are not theoretical harms, they are documented ones,” Kiddo said.

On the other side of the discussion, concerns were raised that the ordinance would put undue burden on families.

“I believe we are losing sight of who will actually bear the burden of this ordinance,” said Hannah Schultzy.

While she agreed bad operators should be held accountable, she said there is a difference between a large corporation and ordinary people who run just one short-term vacation rental.

“Those people are already facing enormous costs by way of insurance, taxes, repairs, HOA fees,” said Schultzy. “Now we’re proposing another layer of governmental red tape and an annual fee on top of everything else. This proposed ordinance will require every short-term vacation rental to register and pay $200 a year while also requiring a local responsible party around the clock. The county estimates more than 3,000 properties could be affected, earning an estimated $600,000 in one year alone.”

Commissioner Joshua Wostal said while he’s usually one for the least amount of government interference as possible, in this case he had to agree the ordinance was necessary.

“Unfortunately in this situation there’s just so many bad actors that unless society is willing to accept vigilante behavior, we’re going to have to empower staff to regulate these,” said Wostal.

This story originally appeared on thecentersquare.com.