The Park City Council last week took a step towards keeping tabs on short-term rentals in town.
At their last meeting, the council approved a contract with Host Compliance, a firm that inventories short-term rentals and determines if they are complying with local ordinances.
City Council Member Tim Henney said it looks like a remarkable operation.
“These guys have been all over the country. They have an algorithm that apparently can look at all the advertising that’s happening in your community and find actual addresses. Then determine whether they have pulled a business license and have been inspected and are in compliance with local codes and ordinances. They do it extremely successfully. They have a really high conversion rate from noncompliance to compliance. What they also have learned, one of the things that we want to do is through education and through notification you get that compliance. You don’t have to go out and ticket people or cite them for noncompliance or fine them. Once they understand that there are rules and regulations and that they are required to comply. After two to three notifications they do comply. So that’s the trick.”
He said the contract is meant to address nightly rentals, not long-term use.
“This also could help shift some of that back to long-term. Long-term you have lots of benefits. You get to claim it as a noncommercial primary residence for your property tax. If you’re just doing nightly rentals in a property that’s not a primary residence you’re going to get taxed at the full rate. Versus the discounted rates that primary owners are taxed at. If you’re in long-term rental that’s renting to somebody who’s a resident and you get the residence property tax rate.”