The West Tisbury select board is considering putting the final touches on new short-term rental regulations passed at town meeting earlier this year.
The West Tisbury select board is considering putting the final touches on new short-term rental regulations passed at town meeting earlier this year.
Residents passed a bylaw in April, setting a minimum rental period and other parameters on the vacation rentals. Afterward the town’s short-term rental committee set out to promulgate draft regulations and a recommended fee schedule for the new rules.
On Wednesday, the committee presented detailed regulations to the board. According to the drafted regulations, property owners can only designate one of their properties as a short-term rental and they must live in that property at least 30 days a year. There is a two-night minimum for rentals and the town must inspect each property before proper registration. Other requirements include a “duty to respond” and “duty to update contact information” with the town.
The proposed fee schedule includes an administrative fee of $400, which would cover a two-year registration, inspections and other administrative expenses.
“We designed our fee schedule around what we estimated the costs for running [and] managing the program would be and taking into account that these short term rental operators are also paying taxes,” short-term rental committee chair Bea Phear said at the meeting.
West Tisbury is the first town to create a bylaw addressing the controversial rentals.
The bylaw was enacted to protect the town’s housing stock while still encouraging the Island’s history of a booming tourist market, Ms. Phear said at the annual town meeting.
The select board elected to postpone voting in the regulations in hopes that the public reads over the drafted proposal and sends letters of input.
“It’d be fair to give the people an opportunity, a week, maybe two, to let them at least read it and get back to us if they want to with suggestions,” select board member Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter said.
Comments
This appears to me as, yet,
JessThis appears to me as, yet, another government overreach into private property and homeowners. 1-st they added taxes to the short term rentals (this on top of real estate and property taxes), now they are adding more regulations and fees. To add more insult to injury they are doing this to homeowners who are funding your government coffers without offering any benefits whatsoever to the homeowners.
I am worried about the future of the middle class on the island. Summer rentals have,for many years, been a source of income to many working island families. Rising prices, high inflation, higher insurance costs and then some more taxes are inadvertently going to push many homeowners out of the island. This will result in a shift of home-ownership to a more affluent crowd. Wealthy folk don't need to rent their homes, middle and working class do!
There is good intentions here but no one is looking at the bigger picture. All these fees, taxes and costs will have a snowball effect. OR maybe, just maybe is an intentional political/power play for those on government boards.
Amen!
OtisAmen!
Please. Yes everything is
WD WTPlease. Yes everything is rising, but nowhere near the rate of rentals themselves. Homeowners across the board started raising their rates to crazy levels during and after covid and now people are finally starting to see that there are far more economical and beautiful places to vacation that MV. Homeowners whether they have long paid off their homes, or bought high and need every penny all have mind numbing weekly rates, and now they complain about the town wanting additional funds - I have little sympathy. The reason people come here is because of what the island offers, beautiful beaches, clean and well maintained roads, good basic utilities, and that island vibe - this takes town investments ie money, and the town gets that from the taxpayers. If homeowners choose to run a business from their homes, then they should be taxed accordingly to help offset the expense these visitors cause us. Personally I would be happy to see less tourists here so I could get off island more easily, get appointments for car servicing, medical appointments, restaurant reservations, or anything else I now have to pay to go off island for because of the crazy wait times. Maybe the crazy rates along with the new taxes will slow down the summer influx and then we can get back to just a bit less crazy summer which we island people can enjoy for once
Make seasonal owners pay a
mike SomewhereMake seasonal owners pay a higher tax %.
Make seasonal owners who rent pay additional taxes / fees.
Do not let seasonal owners have any say in the local government
Make seasonal owners very unhappy with the incessant money grabs.
Assess seasonal owners houses and properties higher than their MV resident neighbors.
Most seasonal owners are middle-class hard-working stiffs like me who do not have a lot of extra cash and need to rent several weeks in the summer to pay the crazy, vendor, food, tax prices here nowadays.
It was not like this before.
This looks pretty intentional, and way unfair.
I don’t agree. Using a
Mark G Vineyard HavenI don’t agree. Using a residential property as a short term rental, even for a short amount of time annually, makes it a commercial property. Homeowners should not have the best of both worlds. The property is either a home or a rental, not both. You shouldn’t be gouging summer vacationers a few weeks out of the year to bank roll your groovy island lifestyle.
This is just ridiculous. West
Peter WTThis is just ridiculous. West Tisbury residents should be outraged. A complete over reach and a money grab. We are killing tourism/rentals on the island with all the fees.
We will have plenty of affordable housing but no jobs.
Yet more fees?? It's not
tom bostonYet more fees?? It's not enough that owners are already paying high taxes (and if you're a seasonal owner, getting very few services in return) and renters or owners are paying exorbitant taxes now on STRs? And a land bank fee when purchasing a home and there's a proposal for yet another fee for selling one's home. And some pay another CPA fee each year along with a personal property tax on personal items in one's home (like your couch!). When does it stop? What problem have all these fees and taxes solved? This proposed $400 fee is outrageous.
Taxation without
Ben West TisburyTaxation without representation. Enough already. Are select board members appointed or elected? Are they remunerated?
the whole idea of regulating
Michael edgartownthe whole idea of regulating STR is criminal......you are regulating peoples lives, and property....outrageous
Short term rentals are a
John WTShort term rentals are a business and should be regulated as such. The town should receive a share of revenue as a tax and the town should ensure the properties are safe for renters.
John, if we keep this pace up
Gail WTJohn, if we keep this pace up, we will run out all tourists. We need them now more than ever!
The town is already getting 5
MH WtisburyThe town is already getting 5-6% !!! This is another fee on top of that, and a town position we pay salary for to manage - ridiculous
We are running the renters
Jay WTWe are running the renters and tourists off the island. If that’s the intent ok. But keep one thing in mind we are a Tourist based economy.
We are cutting off the hands that feed us…
We will not have to worry about Affordable Housing, there will be know need, there will be no jobs.
I have been in the Hospitality business in the Island I have never seen the amount of tax/fees we are imposing on renters … just crazy
Complete overreach and
Nick Dean OBComplete overreach and unnecessary bureaucracy! This was about housing supply and costs and now we are hiring inspectors to also check “safety” of the house. Give me a break. They are just adding more regulations and creating fake jobs for people. There is no need for someone to come into your home every 2 years and poke around on a fishing expedition! This doesn’t happen anywhere else on earth. More fees!?! West Tisbury will do anything but increase the supply the middle class housing. This is a blueprint of exactly what not to enact. Does anyone really think this will be help bring down the cost housing?
What exactly is this town
MH WtisburyWhat exactly is this town “inspection” to
include or be looking for? Who performs and when? Who defines the terms, and outcomes ? This alone will be a tedious task to outline! Seems like your creating more unnecessary tasks for town just to create another position?
Hal of these rules are
Dean WTHalf of these rules are completely unncessary regulation that was has no intent to help fix the housing crisis. Inspections every other year? More $$. They are basically creating a fake "safetly" department that no on asked for in the name of "affordable housing"
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