At the 89thย U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting,ย local government officials from across the nation voted to recognize six U.S. jurisdictions for implementing a successful short-term rental (STR) strategy with proven results. All six communities featured at the event employ the GovOS Short-Term Rental Solutionย as a critical component in their approach.ย
Attendees of the conference discussed the ongoing challenges associated with the rapidly expanding STR industry and acknowledged that while many communities continue to grapple with the impacts of a steady increase in STRs, others have found success implementing software solutions for compliance with local regulations and tax requirements.ย
The annual conference, which took place virtually in August, brought together more than 1,400 mayors from across the nation to discuss a number of key issues in communities, such as sustainability, social justice, community development and housing, and more. During the annual meeting, mayors are given the opportunity to discuss and vote on important policy resolutions that, if approved, are considered representative of the groupโsย collectiveย viewpoint.ย Policies adoptedย duringย these meetings areย afterwardsย distributed to theย U.S.ย Presidentย andย Congress.ย
Among the resolutions entered at this yearโsย conference was Resolutionย 44,ย titledย Software Solutions for Compliance of Local Laws and Taxes for Vacation Rentals. Voted on and passed unanimously, this resolution identified model cities who have successfully deployed STR compliance programs and outlined the key features that comprise these citiesโ programs.ย
The resolution first recognized Albuquerque, NM as a model city for its effective use of software to support and maintain its STR initiatives. Other local governments recognized for utilizingย a similarly successfulย model were:ย
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- Corpus Christi, TXย
- Dallas,ย TXย
- Fort Collins, COย
- Hawaii County, HIย
- Irving, TX
According to the resolution, cities like Albuquerque achieve a high compliance rate with the support of software that enables:
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- Identificationย of STR propertiesย ย
- Compliance monitoringย
- Communicationย withย STR operatorsย
- Registrationย andย licensingย of propertiesย
- Taxย collectionย
- Community complaintย managementย
- Aย dedicatedย STR complaintย hotlineย
For cities struggling with how best to manage STRs and navigate the kinds of challenges associated with vacation rentals, the committee proposed looking to these model cities to see how theyโve achieved their success. As outlined in the resolution, the most effective solutions areย typicallyย sustainedย by:ย
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- Creating and maintaining anย advertisement listing and property databaseย
- Collectingย property dataย (includingย owner and property manager contact information)ย
- Definingย what it means to beย compliantย
- Providingย online servicesย forย property owner/manager, such as aย portal thatย allows users toย register/renewย an STRย licenseย and/or makeย tax paymentsย
- Communicating with operatorsย viaย notification toolsย
- Utilizing a system toย catalogue neighborhood nuisance concerns
At GovOS,ย we helpย communitiesย implement and advanceย STRย programsย incorporating theseย very elements.ย Our STR solution empowers citiesย struggling to address communicationย issuesย with STR owners/managersย andย supports proper identification of properties to help your jurisdictionย discover who is operating an STRย and the steps required to bring them into compliance.ย ย
We are honored to be the chosen provider of the cities named in Resolution 44 andย invite any communities facing similar obstacles to reach out to our team with questions.ย
Withย todayโs kickoff of theย US Conference of Mayorsย Winter Meeting in Washington, DC,ย weโre looking forward to learning more about the topicsย covered atย this session, and to what extent STRs willย continue toย be a part of the conversationย going forward.
For more informationย about our STR compliance solution,ย please visitย govos.com/products/short-term-rental/.
