San Antonio City Council questions permit fees for Airbnbs

[Jake]

This is interesting, for those of you who are operating or considering short-term rentals of Airbnbs in San Antonio, you may want to check out the changes proposed by their local city council. The council has considered an increase to the permit fee for short-term rentals, which currently stands at $100 for up to three years.

This is due to them wanting stronger enforcement of their existing regulations, as the city has struggled with permitting these rentals as of late. There are approximately 1,200-1,500 short-term rental properties operating without any permits, which has lead to a compliance rate of around 70%. The city is losing revenue due to this, on top of unpaid local taxes and the lack of permits. This in turn hurts tourism, arts, and culture programs.

Since the ordinance was approved back in 2018, San Antonio has collected about $14.4 million in hotel occupancy taxes. These proposed changes are aimed to address such issues and improve compliance.

For more in regards to this, you can read the full article here.

 

[Winny]

I wonder what can happen to those running rental properties without the permits to do so. It's good to see their city ordinance on this has helped change this a bit, but it's clear some work needs to be done if they want to make sure all rental properties have permits in order.

 

[Debashis]

These proposed changes to the permit fee for short-term rentals in San Antonio seem like a necessary step towards better regulation and enforcement. It's important for the city to crack down on the large number of unpermitted rentals in order to ensure fair competition and collect the much-needed revenue. Ultimately, these changes will benefit not only the city's finances but also its tourism industry and cultural programs.

 

[Nomad]

It is very important to bring businesses in to legal frame work. This not only helps the government but even the operator of the businesses. Therefore, those who are running airbnb should not shy away from getting required permits. But I think it is not good to increase permit fees for short term rental as it might hamper the individuals who are operating airbnb legally.