(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/17/2024) Short-term rentals would have to pay a 6% excise tax, equip the rental with carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, and be registered in a database that includes emergency contact information for someone within 30 miles of the rental under legislation that received testimony in the House Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee Wednesday.
Bill sponsor Rep. Joey Andrews (D-St. Joseph) said local governments struggle to zone and regulate the rentals and funding the enforcement that comes along with it. He said these bills would allow local governments to decide how to handle the type of tourism they get, whether it be football games in Ann Arbor and East Lansing or beaches in West Michigan.
Andrews said St. Joseph estimates 650,000 tourists visiting Silver Beach per year just by parking records, and the actual number may be closer to 1,000,000. The municipalities don’t have a way to recover the burden tourism places on the community since state tax code prohibits local sales and use taxes. Pipes, roads and public safety suffer specifically, Andrews said.
Rep. Jenn Hill (D-Marquette) said only five of the 250 short term rentals in Marquette are occupied by their owners, meaning the rest are there for income generation. She said the City of Marquette passed a resolution in favor of the bill. Saugatuck’s Mayor Pro Tem Helen Baldwin testified in support of the bill, stating that short-term rentals have exploded to a level that is disruptive for the community, and that local governments need the ability to impose regulations to cover public safety issues.
The bills have a six-month window after their effective date to allow time for short-term renters to make their changes. The package includes HB 5437, HB 5438, HB 5439, HB 5440, HB 5441, HB 5442, HB 5443, HB 5444, HB 5445 and HB 5446.
While the Michigan Realtors Association is not opposed to the registration, regulation or taxation of short term rentals, Brad Ward said the association believes the state needs to protect the right to rent and define its use.
Trevor Tkach, the immediate past chair of the Michigan Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the bureau supports the registration for short-term rentals, but not the excise tax, because they view it as a penalty on the short-term rental business.
Hill said those opposed to the excise tax had not proposed a solution to the local cost of tourism. She said the police department in Marquette are using 20-year-old radios.
“We are leaving money on the table and tools out of the room. We need to bring them in,” Hill said.
