With its full board on hand, the Warren Select Board adopted a $200 registration fee for the town’s 470 short-term rental units.
The board took that action at its September 9 meeting. Select board chair Devin Klein Corrigan reminded the group that the town is expecting about 75% compliance in terms of short-term rental (STR) unit owners who will register. That will result in some 352 STR owners registering and raise $70,500.
At this week’s meeting, board members discussed adopting the $200 registration fee for the initial year of the registry and re-evaluating it after that. The board wants to cover the $27,000 cost of the software as well as town staff time to manage the registry as well as compliance with it.
There is interest among board members to amend the fee structure after the first year to include an owner occupied (hosted) / non-occupied (unhosted) as well as possibly a per bedroom rate given that the impact of a five-bedroom unit versus a two-bedroom unit is significant.
Three members of the five-member select board discussed registry fees on August 26 after board vice-chair Camilla Behn shared fees from other Vermont resort communities.
Stowe charges $100 per unit. Dover and Mount Snow charge $125. Other towns, including Windsor and Ascutney, use more nuanced fee schedules, distinguishing between hosted and unhosted properties. In those towns, hosted units pay a flat rate, while unhosted units pay by the bedroom – up to $300 per bedroom. Londonderry charges $150 for hosted properties and $500 for unhosted.
