A somewhat controversial by-law governing local short-term rentals is set to be passed by North Bay City Council along with other user fees during Tuesday’s regular meeting but the tale of its effectiveness will only be told once the regulations themselves are tested by user groups and municipal officials.
Short-term rentals are fairly new on the municipal radar and this is a piece of legislation and an issue that few politicians have much experience in dealing with. Several segments of the population expressed their thoughts on the issue — for and against — in public meetings. The apprehension in moving forward and the timing resulted in one council passing the baton to the next.
Short-term rentals are often brokered by companies such as Airbnb and VRBO that provide an online marketplace for accommodations meant for vacation rentals and tourism activities. The prevalence of these online hosting sites left municipalities with a desire to regulate the practice and recover service costs.
The STR user fees call for a $600 application fee and a $275 application renewal fee for hosts. These fees include tasks that are defined for the average application, including receipt of application, review, processing, inspections, notices, orders, monitoring, communications, and inspections.
The appeal fee is $1,600. And, a stand-by fee will be calculated at the rate of $78 times the number of hours on stand-by. This fee is intended to be charged for the actual time spent in organizing, documenting and supervising work outside of the standard fees.
“To offset the cost of providing services, municipalities have the authority under Section 391(1) of the Municipal Act to impose a fee or charge on individuals,” per the staff report. The City “performed a costing analysis to determine the full cost of providing and upholding the by-law. The full cost recovery rates were then used as a benchmark against which new fees were established.”