Hamilton County officials are considering a new tax on short-term rentals like Airbnb.
County administration pitched the idea to commissioners this week. Senior Policy Manager Marc Von Allmen says the city of Cincinnati is already taxing short-term rentals, but no other municipalities are.
"The administration's recommendation is that we revise the definition of hotels within the county's Code of Regulations so that operators with one room or more are subject to that same 6.5% tax," he said Tuesday.
The current definition of a hotel is five or more rooms. The hotel tax revenue is used for Visit Cincy, the Duke Energy Convention Center, and the Sharonville Convention Center. Von Allmen says Visit Cincy is in favor of the proposed change.
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Von Allmen says the current tax collects from about 100 hotels. An estimated 1,300 short-term rentals would be added, bringing in an estimated $400,000 a year. The administration also wants to create a new position of lodging tax administrator.
Commission Vice President Denise Driehaus says she's likely in favor.
"I think this makes sense because the short term rentals are providing the same service as a hotel would, and we are taxing the hotels with the hotel-motel tax," she said.
Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas says it seems like a good idea, but she has some hesitations.
"Most of those Airbnbs are sole proprietors, so we're working very hard to keep them afloat. And now we're going to ... add this responsibility on," she said. "So I would like to see a gradual [increase] ... maybe even the third year or maybe the second year, come up to the 6.5%."
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The change would require two resolutions approved by the Board of Commissioners: one to revise the Code of Regulations to change the definition of a hotel, and another to revise the Table of Organization to add the lodging tax administrator. Both resolutions are expected to be up for consideration in the next couple months.
Von Allmen says they'd like to start collecting a short-term rental tax on January 1, 2024.
See the full presentation to the Board of Commissioners below:
