Update on Short-Term Rental Implementation

Mon, January 1, 2024

Local Government, News

Jillian Riseman

Updated 12/4/2023:

Last week, the Budget, Finance, & Economic Development (BFED) Committee heard an update from the Division of Revenue about the City’s new Short-Term Rental regulations.

The presentation shared information about the registration process for owners/operators, and the deadlines for compliance. You can read our summary of the presentation here.

According to the City, the responsibility of getting registered has been on the owners/operators of STRs, but there has not been a robust outreach effort. A lack of current information about who owns and operates STRs has made outreach extremely challenging.

There were also some concerns about how violations will be handled since this is a primarily complaint-driven process. All citations will be issued by the Division of Revenue, but they will be partnering with the Lexington Police Department and Code Enforcement to address concerns that are not typically revenue-related, such as noise complaints or parking violations.

Committee Chair Councilmember James Brown scheduled another update on the STR ordinance for the BFED Committee’s April meeting, three months after the regulations take effect.

This week’s Budget, Finance, & Economic Development Committee meeting will feature a presentation on the implementation of new Short-Term Rental (STR) regulations that were adopted in July of this year.

Enforcement of the ordinance will begin on January 11th, 2024.

STR operators have until then to register for their STR special fee license, which costs $200 for the first unit and $100 for any additional unit.
Only 12 operators have paid their special license fee so far. There are at least 895 operating STRs, according to the City.
Over 250 operators have sought and received zoning permits for their STRs.

The City is seeking out software to support the enforcement of this ordinance. They hope to have the software operational by the end of the Fiscal Year in June 2024. You can review the entire presentation here.

The Budget, Finance, & Economic Development Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at 1:00 pm in Council Chambers. You can attend this meeting in-person or watch live on LexTV.

Republished from CivicLex.

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