Here are the posts made on Beaver Island This & That about the issue of short term rentals on the island. This series of posts is mentioned in our Community Calendar Report for Thursday, May 5, 2023.
Richards Rental Management Services
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I have heard some rumblings over the past couple of months about our townships collecting rental fees/requiring licenses on our vacation rentals on the island. Tomorrow morning there is a Peaine Township Planning Commission meeting at 9am. I have not been able to get through to a board member to confirm this or gain clarification on this spreadsheet, but have been told by a verifiable source that this is being discussed and decided on tomorrow. If you are concerned, I would suggest that you contact one of the Planning Commission board members. Here is a link to the page with their contact information – https://www.peainetwp.org/…/https___webgen1.revize.com…
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Jill Stoeffler-Taxter
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What is the purpose/need to collect licensing fees? Vacation and seasonal rentals bring revenue to the island? What’s the rationale?
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Jill Stoeffler-Taxter that is a good question. One I am not sure of myself. I am confused. These vacation rentals are secondary homes and the property owners already pay increased property taxes to the townships for these homes. Our rental management services provides jobs for residents of our community and allows for commerce to island businesses because we provide a place for vacationers to stay. I am confused why the township would be biting the hand that feeds it.
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Richards Rental Management Services I don’t live there, but that’s how I saw it with my limited understanding. Unless there is some additional cost the island is having to absorb due to seasonal visitors, it did it seem clear to me.
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Richards Rental Management Services of course I agree with you on all counts as someone who owns a home that I rent out to pay for the expense of owning it (a large percentage of the rental money goes towards the property taxes).
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Richards Rental Management Services I’m guessing it’s being looked at merely as a way for the township to collect revenue. Without consideration of many of the valid issues addressed above. Vacation rental properties do indeed fuel the local economy. And they do provide needed income for the property owners. And yes too many short term rental properties likely does shrink the pool of available long term rental properties for residents, but likely not a great deal. I think the proposal is merely a revenue generating idea and not a policy shaping tool.
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Jill Stoeffler-Taxter The goal in the areas of the US where these have been implemented is to control the quantity and density of STR (short term rental) properties to maintain both the boost to the local economy, and much of the pre-STR atmosphere of the local areas which led to the vacation popularity of these areas.
Truly a delicate balancing act. Expand the economy without destroying the charm of the Island. The goal is not to bite the hand which feeds the town, but to prevent the hand from choking the town.
Best to implement a logical plan prior to an over-proliferation of STRs becomming a problem.
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Roger Cook This is good insight and I understand how that can have some benefit.
That said, a system can be implemented as a zero-sum game; meaning the township should not profit on licensing. A registry can be implemented to achieve the balance you mention with minimal overhead and need not require an ongoing licensing & fee structure. As pointed out in other comments in this thread, second homes already pay increased taxes to the township.
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Roger Cook you are exactly right with what you stated above. As an owner of a STR in Peaine township, I am fine paying a fee to the township to operate our short term rental, assuming those fees are being used for sustainable tourism. “Sustainable tourism” looks different for every community, but the chamber does a wonderful job of creating this vision.
I like the idea of an annual flat fee. It’s easier than reporting quarterly and paying a percentage of revenue, which I have also done in the past on other properties I have owned in other areas.
From my perspective, I would like to stop being vilified by a handful of locals for generating income from a property that I can’t afford to own without said rental income. Most of the homes on BI are used only for summer vacation purposes anyway, so really not a huge difference between my family and I staying all summer vs staying a month and renting to other families to enjoy for the remaining time. Maybe paying the township a fee will help lessen the stigma on STR owners.
Lastly, the Township should consider the impact these fees will have on the amount of revenue generated by the Chamber. I paid $600 to the chamber a few weeks ago for our annual membership. I would at the very least think twice about renewing my annual membership to the BI Chamber if this fee from the township goes into place, not because I don’t support the work of the chamber, but because we only have so much we can afford to reinvest into the community every year and I would consider the Chamber fee and the township fee repetitive. Just my opinion on the matter.
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Jon Fitzmaurice I will defer to Attorneys, but a License with zero Fee may not be defensible as a License. Regardless, the Fee should NOT be priced where it could be considered punitive or excessive.
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Tell you right now that you wanna get a handle on this one way or the other. I’ve watched vacation rentals change the places I’ve loved. Some good, some bad depending on your own likes. Just understand it will change and a dominant amount of homes becoming rentals will drive the price of said homes to levels supported by rents, not by level Of income available to islanders. Just the way it is. Be careful what you ask for folks.
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Jon Lewis I understand your forward thinking. We have 350 homes on Lake Michigan, and under 50 rental homes on the island. There are not enough employees here to turn over many more rental homes. In order to legally collect rent for another person the state requires you to have a real estate brokers license. If the townships would just enforce the law, that would limit rentals on the island (if that is the reasoning of requiring licenses for rental homes).
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theres way more than 50 rental homes on the island.
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi you are right, my bad. I just counted the rentals on the Chamber site, and there are 70 vacation rentals on BI. RRMS manages 17, Beaver Island Realty manages 9… so who is managing the other 44?
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air bnb and vrbo rentals are the issue. And more homes are being built specifically for summer rentals. And there are plenty that the chamber doesn’t even know about.
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi I am wondering what the issue is? Can you please clarify? And who is managing these rentals?
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<![if !supportLists]>§ <![endif]>Edited
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I am assuming it is the disgruntled locals losing homes or the ability to purchase homes due to many of them being bought up to be turned into rentals. Many homes bought by the same people. There are many other counties and townships that have begun requiring licenses or banning things like air bnb and vrbo due to the large displacement of local populations or the skyrocketing of housing values. There are a number of factors these are just a few
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi it is true that folks who have a hard time buying a home tend to become disgruntled and look to vacation rentals as the culprit. If you look over the rentals that are available on the island most of them are waterfront homes. These would never be considered “affordable homes” even if vacation rentals were not allowed. I have a hard time with the idea of switching gears on folks who have planned to alleviate some of the cost of owning a second home by renting it out a bit and are now able to make that a possibility for themselves. Only three years ago we had 73 homes on the market and were praying for some of them to sell so that homeowners who were aging out could be free of their vacation home on the island. Now that tides have turned, and we have new homeowners who have purchased with a plan, the townships are going to say that rentals are a problem? I don’t know. It is hard for me to take. I could understand it a bit more if the townships were to say, “Ok folks, we have decided to only allow 75 rental homes on the island. If you currently rent your home out, you will be given a license. This license will be passed along to another once you are willing to release it.” If the licenses are not just given, and the townships decide to start charging, I feel it is a money grab.
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your business I don’t believe is the issue, your a local rental business operating on island and offering employment opportunities. However air bnb and vrbo have had continued consequences in many communities. And yes the purpose of this meeting should be to build more understanding of the amount of rental properties on the island and create a way to mediate them, including the amount allowed on the island. You say there were no “affordable” houses on the lake front prior to the housing boom. There were a handful of small cottages, cabins and small houses that were less than 200k on the lake front. Now all go for 300k +. Air bnb and vrbo used to be for the little guest house people had in their backyard and has turned into large investments into multiple homes as weekly rentals. Many other townships across the country have started charging something for the large increase in Airbnb and vrbo. More weekly renters means need for more road work, more law enforcement, more need for rules and regulations. More EMS and Fire calls. All these things increasing due to the large amount of new people vacationing but no extra revenue to cover those expenses for the townships. The townships don’t make any more in taxes from Airbnb and vrbo rentals.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi Truth Conan
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Richards Rental Management Services thank you 
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi you seem to discount the fact that as the value of these houses goes up so do the taxes. So percentage wise the island has the same amount of income if not more because non-residents pay a lot higher tax than residents. It’s always hard to grasp the cost of inflation but I remember paying $4 for a jar of mayonnaise and today that same jar is over $8. With that as a reference point $300k for what was once $200k seems like a bargain .
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Reply to Conan Gatts Kenpachi…
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Jon exactly the issue in every city/town where air bnb or vrbo has taken hold. Homes once available for year round or even seasonal /monthly leases are now rented weekly by vacationers. Definitely better $$ for the property owners. Not definitive on increased sales dollars for businesses, although most likely weekly renters spend more on souvenirs/boat rentals & perhaps alcohol.
Sleeping Bear area & other tourist heavy towns struggling now with keeping employees because the local costs of living keep going up. People end up living further away from their workplace, requiring the need for a vehicle, increasing gas $$ & miles put on vehicles
Noting the prices of weekly rentals in the past few years BI is definitely changing.
Certainly a time to really explore benefits & consequences to make thoughtful decisions.
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Betsie Walen I do realize that folks want to compare Beaver Island with other towns, but it is not the same. Does anyone remember a time on the island when there was hardly anyone coming to the island other than the island families? I have been told the number of folks on the island was quite small. This was in the last 60 years. We have marketed Beaver Island as a vacation destination. That is what the community has been pushing for over the past 6 years. We have had community meetings on how to generate traction with remote workers as residents and how to attract vacationers. We made plans to host festivals and special events to bring folks to the island in order to support our island economy. I was a part of this group. Our efforts have been successful!
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Richards Rental Management Services You’d be even more successful getting remote workers with a good high-speed internet service being readily available. TDS Telecom internet (and POTS phone service) is pitiful, anywhere they exist. Starlink isn’t the answer either, though it’s good for a start for now.
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Richards that makes complete sense. You do need the traffic to keep the economy going. To your previous point, having enough employees to clean, etc is also a need. As is affordable housing. BI isn’t like other places, for certain. That’s where the magic is.
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I bet they don’t even address rental fees but rather the other fees we are behind on compared to neighboring townships and have applications and ordinances for. I’ll be there in the morning though
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Richards Rental Management Services thank you for highlighting this; I’ve emailed the Planning Commission to voice my opinion.
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We attempted to put a convention and visitors bureau tax on in the early 80’s when we started the new chamber, it was met with some fierce opposition, I think this would too! People are taxed out of their minds her because of SEV. People own extra cars, pay extra fees to get here and stay here and it would be very unjust and unwelcoming!
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Richard Gillespie good perspective, thanks for sharing the history.
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Given the limited number of motel rooms on Beaver Island, it seems like short term rentals allow more visitors to enjoy the island and support all of the local businesses.
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Trish Williams Scott the Island is changing.
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The island is ever changing. Just a few short years ago, I was afraid it was dying. The number of for sale signs was concerning. Properties sat empty for years. Now there is demand for homes here. There has recently been an influx of new residents and I think that’s great!
Yes, the cost of rentals has gone up due to higher demand and inflation too. It’s a very short tourist season on Beaver Island. The cost for everything is higher on Beaver Island. Gas, food, utilities have all gone up.
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Ridiculous, people are buying up BI to rent properties driving up the price of all homes and real estate. Further taxation and regulation will further put the cost of homes and rental properties out of reach for the people who have come for years (I’m one). The house I would rent for $900.00 a week 7 years ago now is $2500 – 3000 a week. We again have rented a another home for 2 weeks this summer for $4000.00 which is less than most considering current comparable rentals. I spend another $2500 at the restaurants, bars, Mc Donoughs, boat etc….2 weeks $6500.00 and not getting cheaper. I go for the winter at the Ocean for 3 months $5400.00. Point being there is a saturation point and I think after 30 years of coming it has hit a saturation point for middle incomes. Further costs and fees will be a changing of the guard 
and only people with higher incomes can afford to come. Most people I know on the Island are workers and the grease for the wheels of prosperity, the cost of living will change much.
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David Grimm I sold our house there a bit more than 20 years ago, and couldn’t afford to buy one there now. Prices have risen way too high over those years.
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Admin
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This is an important topic in need of thoughtful discussion, which itself may depend on the collection of clearer data around the relationship between the number of STRs and housing availability for local residents or would-be residents; as well as discussion of the role economic development policies and plans play in all of the above.
The most immediate or perhaps superficial data might suggest to some that both a reasonable amount of STR’s and available year-round rentals exists. But the reality on the ground is likely far different, as Levi (Conan) referenced, and as a significant number of current and former locals would probably confirm. Yes, we all want a sustainable tourist economy (though differing definitions exist of what that is.) And yes, we also need year-round rentals for a portion of the population who occupy the service and trade sectors. Some business owners here have purchased and provide their own housing for employees, without which those employees could not sustain a seasonal or year-round life here. In my life span, I have seen earlier years with a greater amount of year-round rentals. In the past decade+, much less so. The island may be unique geographically and culturally in ways – but in my experience there are very real parallels between growth trends in the regional tourism/second home economy and the lack of longer-term rental housing for service and trade sector workers.
That said, my understanding is that tomorrow’s Peaine Township meeting agenda will not include discussion of the collection of STR fees or rental owner licensing, but rather a fee schedule for other purposes. (Edited)
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NOTHING is being decided on as was explained to Sheri Richards when I contacted her. We are looking at our fee schedule compared to other Townships. It is a discussion to carry forward. Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions which are invited and heard. Yes STR is a discussion but again no where near decided on. If you’d like to write me your thoughts please do so treasurer.peainetownship@yahoo.com
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Admin
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Vicki Matela Smith Thank you for the clarification on this, Vicki.
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You start taxing or putting more fees on people who own rentals and they will leave, you rely on tourists in the summer to help the economy for small businesses and rely on summer property owners for taxes, don’t bite the hand that feeds you. If they want to put a fee in place it better include ALL people who have rentals whether you live full or part time on island.
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Wouldn’t this constitute as taxation without representation? If the land owner already pays their property taxes and income taxes, this would be unjustifiable taxation.
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Nick Serra some other places call it a resort tax. High tourist volume impacts communities with more needs they say.
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Our rental covers the property tax, insurance, maintenance and very little more. It is hard work to keep them just to basically pay taxes. I would be very sad to find I can’t afford to provide this service because of additional taxes/licenses and/or fees
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Richards Rental Management Services
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Lois Stipp and you have a rental that is self managed. If folks hire a rental management company, they make far less income because they have to share the rent collected. I see the bottom line for these folks, and know that the income gained pretty much covers property taxes and insurance.
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Hmm… I don’t see how making it harder for people to make a living/keep their earnings from their short term rentals is going to be of benefit to the island or its residents overall/long term. Punishing short term renters with fees and licensing requirements doesn’t fix the lack of long term rentals, it just strips people of their income by punishing them for not having long term rentals/ punishing individuals for choosing how to utilize their property for income. All it will do is drive the cost of short term rentals up even more and drive away people who would stay there for vacation. This will not only hurt those who have short term rentals, but will also hurt local businesses. Prices for short term rentals inevitably will go up to nullify the expenses of such licences and fees, and vacationers will get tired of the prices and will choose to vacation elsewhere. Not a good idea by any means IMO.
Instead of punishing those with short term rentals, why not offer some sort of incentives for long term rentals?
Punishing one group of renters for their choice in how to rent their property out doesn’t fix the issue. All it does it hurt everyone.
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Michelle Serra well stated
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Lois Stipp yep, you cannot tax people into prosperity. Just makes everyone poorer.
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when most of these houses are being rented for 2k or more a week paying a $500 dollar fee shouldn’t not be a problem to rent a full season.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi Really?
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi if our little STR at the gallery goes, so does the gallery because the gallery taxes are supported by the STR. If the gallery goes, so does a venue for approximately 20 island artists. Almost everything we do is for the comnunity, our ability to do those things is dependent on the STR help pay property taxes. We do not have additional funds for $500 extra dollars per season
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I’m not against you renting your spot out for the art gallery. You contribute to this community. I think people are concerned about the many homes bought by one or two individuals that have never even been here and only have it to weekly rent it. That’s why they want to have some meetings and discuss concerns and ideas.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi well said here. The short term rentals owned by out of state folks who don’t even live here is becoming a thing. I don’t think they would mind contributing a small fee to support the local island infrastructure since their short term rental guests directly benefit from it. Community Art gallery is not in the same category here.
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The island should have a limit on how many houses are being sold to air b&b investors who will just use them for short term rentals.
If the locals can’t buy houses since they’ve been trumped by a small number of investors who could afford to pay more and outbid, then there should be priority given to local residents first vs out of state investors
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It still would be unjustified (people have the right to rent their personal properties for what they choose to, they file it and pay their dues through income tax, so this would be taxing income they’ve already been taxed on). In turn, it will drive the costs up more for those who do wish to rent those places (we all know the cost will get passed on to the people who try to rent the property. No one wants to take on added fees without offsetting them by passing it along to the consumer) and will result in less tourists coming over time, which will negatively impact restaurants, bars, stores, etc. It will hurt everyone who benefits in any way from the tourism. Short term might seem like a good idea, but long term it will without a shadow of a doubt hurt the island and it’s establishments and residents. You cannot tax people into prosperity, all it does is hurt everyone.
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The only real solution to the housing issue is for there to be incentives for long term rentals/renters without punishing short term renters.
Punishing short term renters does not resolve the lack of long term housing, it just takes away money from those who contribute to the revenue the island brings in through tourism. Punish them and everyone suffers for it, because it will drive the cost of short term rentals up even higher and tourists who otherwise would vacation here will choose to go elsewhere that isn’t as expensive and has far more amenities to offer.
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If your renting your personal property then it is considered a business. Airbnb and vrbo try and get around that. Let’s say you have a nice little rental cabin. You rent it for 2k a week. You pay a cleaning lady $75 to clean it once a week. You rent the cabin for 3.5 months out of the year, 14 weeks. 2k times 14 equals 28k, subtract cleaning, 75 times 14 equals 1,050. 28k subtract that, $26,950. Opening and closing fee estimated at 1k a year. 25,950. Taxes, it’s lakefront so we will figure 4K roughly. 21,950. A very large profit margin. This meeting isn’t determining if they are going to tax anyone. But if you havnt lived on the island year round for 10 years or more you would not understand. Yes we need the tourism, but still some form of moderation. I can remember when there were little to no lights in the sky at night here. Now, town is an ominous glow even 5 miles away on a clear night in the summer. No trespassing signs were only to protect your hunting spot during deer season. There were no fences or gates blocking favored boodle stops. The townships arnt stopping rentals or putting in fees. But if it is not monitored in some way we will see this loved place we call home turned into a parking lot. The island will figure this out as we always have.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi you have not taking into account the initial cost of investment in your quick cost analysis. And your estimated tax is ridiculously low. Look up what non residents pay in taxes on a house or cabin that brings a $2000 rental fee. I’m not sure what they are trying to accomplish with another cost to ownership but I’m pretty sure the long term outcome will not be good for the island. The people that will no longer vacation on the island probably contribute many more dollars to the economy than the fee they plan to impose. For the record I no longer rent out the property I own but at one time the income on this property was the only viable path to long term ownership. I would hate to see that opportunity lost for people in the future.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi I guarantee it will end up backfiring on those who can least afford it as well as end up negatively impacting the island long term.
Added fines/fees/taxes always does more harm than good in the long run, and once that money begins to be stripped from the people, it only ever gets worse. In government (even with small local governing bodies) greed is never ending and wasteful spending is abundant.
In regards to what people make by renting their properties out, they already pay income tax on those wages. Taxing their income twice is wrong.
Some people here make their entire years worth of income from the few months they rent their property out and added fees will impact them negatively, just as tourism will be impacted, businesses will be impacted, etc. With the rising costs of inflation , food, gas, etc no one can comfortably live on $28,000 a year, and if that’s all someone makes via short term rentals, $500 can be a massively detrimental hit to the wallet.
No, I may not have lived here for 10+ years, but basic economics doesn’t change. When taxes go up, prices go up to offset those cost hikes, and all the people suffer for it, whether directly or indirectly.
No one wants to see this island turned into a parking lot (and I strongly doubt the residents here would allow for that to happen, so that really isn’t a justifiable excuse to tax people more on their already taxed income) but also many people cannot afford any more fines, fees, mandatory licensing, added taxation without representation (or whatever words are used to describe and manipulate people into paying more and more unfair fees day in and day out), especially for income they’re already taxed on. And this kind of fee/taxation/license mandate will inevitably (as like always happens when governing bodies are given even an added inch of leeway) lead to not just rentals getting slammed with more money being stripped from them, it will turn into all businesses private and otherwise being taxed more, which in turn gets passed on to the consumer and employees of those businesses. Give the governing bodies an inch and they will take a mile, every single time, without fail.
Besides this whole thing is in regards to the lack of long term rentals. Fining short term rentals doesn’t and won’t fix that problem, it just unfairly strips people of more of their income. Sure, some can afford it, but not everyone can and this proposed added tax/license requirement/fee will hurt those who cannot afford it and does absolutely nothing to solve the issue with the lack of long term housing.
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And in regards to it being because of those who bought properties specifically to rent them out short term, it still will hurt everyone else as well. Can’t get way with fining “joe schmoe who isn’t even on island” who has short term rentals, without also fining/forcing license requirements/increasing taxes onto those who do live here and have short term rentals. Fees/license requirements/increased taxes/etc don’t get to be used discriminately. What is applied to, or more accurately, forced onto one, will be forced onto all and in turn hurting those who live here/those who are invested in this island.
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And what’s more, is if that all happens, those who cannot afford the forced added taxes/fees/licensing mandates will end up with little choice but to sell their property/properties (potentially forcing them to move off island). Those properties then will likely be bought up by none other than the people who already have purchased multiple properties to rent out short term. The result? Those short term rentals that got sold off by locals,will be bought up and monopolized on by those same people you’re pointing out (and voicing concern about) have bought numerous properties to rent out. They will continue to make profit (if tourists don’t otherwise choose to vacation elsewhere) and the residents will continue to suffer from the added fines/fees/taxes/licensing mandates. The only people who benefit from the potential added taxes/fees/license mandate are government/governing bodies,and those who intend to buy up and monopolize on short term rental properties.
It cuts the throats of the residents so to speak. Those who can afford to buy up numerous properties to rent them out won’t be harmed by the fees, but those who live here and are invested in this island will be detrimentally impacted.
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This is why they are having the meeting! To start discussing questions and concerns about the rising weekly rentals. Nobody wants to hurt the local populace or tourism, but if it is not somehow monitored it will continue to spiral out of control. Nobody wants to pay more taxes or fees. But in the last 2 years it has risen at an exponential rate higher than it has ever been.
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Conan Gatts Kenpachi it’s the landowners right to do with it as they choose.
What an individual chooses to do with their personal property should never be dictated by others. They own it, it’s up to them what they wish to do with it (provided no legitimate laws are broken in the process).
If properties being bought up left and right by those who intend to use them solely for short term rentals are actually the main focus/concern (rather than the lack of long term rentals as the proposal suggests), then perhaps that would be best dealt with by those selling the properties on an individual basis. Perhaps sellers should be more conscientious about who they choose to sell to, but that boils down to personal choice and self accountability. Not up to the collective to dictate.
And once again, it does not resolve the issue it is supposed to be aimed at. Solving the problem of a long term rentals/housing shortage. It just fines people whilst using the “there’s no long term housing/rentals” as the excuse to fine people.
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Interesting points of view.
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It isn’t the money that’s the issue. A normal fee for a zoning permit isn’t overwhelming. The Planning Commission doesn’t hear about are the good renters. We hear the complaints. The complaints that come to the Planning Commission are about rental abuses. We hear about overcrowding, like 10-15 people in houses meant for no more than six, and questionable septic fields on inland lakes and the Big Lake. We hear about fireworks at 2:00am in a sensitive nature area or lake. And there are other complaints. In an effort to address these complaints research about how other townships handle the issue led to the idea of licensing, but it isn’t the money. It’s about setting standards and assuring responsible rental management. Can the Rental Management business handle a nominal fee permit and management standards?
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William Markey with all due respect, I do not think you can regulate away the concerns you listed. Looking guests in the eye and advising them of what is expected is required along with follow up. A modest security deposit helps. Escorting people to the street when there are 10-15 in a home designed for 6 is sometimes required.
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Only a small part of Port St. James Association is in Peaine Township.
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William Markey It would be nice to be able to attend meetings remotely via a dial in number. Please consider adding this as an option for future board meetings. Assuring responsible rental management starts with communication. How are complaints to the township relayed to owners/rental managers? How do I know if my property is in compliance? Is it possible for the township to summarize the rules/ordinances that are being violated most frequently? Guests need to be informed ahead of time of expectations/rules, that way if they break a rule that they had previously acknowledged we have good reason not the rent to them again. We want to be good neighbors, so if something needs to be addressed, please communicate that clearly. Thank you to you and the board for your work on this matter.
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Our oldest son and his wife are planning a 2024 vacation to one of the Hawaiian islands where STR rules and fees have been implemented (The Onion House?). Their cost for the trip includes paying the STR fee. It is a direct pass-thru to the Renters and charged as an additional cost over and above the weekly rental fee, NOT paid by the Landlord from their rental profits.
Just something to consider…..
I learned about the fee structure when googling info about The Onion House. Formerly owned by the McCormick Spices Heiress.
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i want to hear the outcome of meeting,please send mr info.TOM T. own property on island and plan to retire there in upcoming yrs.i have been land owner for about 4yrs. also been coming to island about 10 yrs luv the island and its people.no reason for property owner not use property as they see fit and does not hurt,but help community I believe.many good points in disscussion.Let me know how it turns out.be on island in july.
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Sheri Richards will you update this thread on the outcome of this mornings vote once complete?
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Scott Hewitt I will post any updates on this thread. If you are looking to follow the meetings on this subject, I would suggest subscribing to Beaver Island News on the Net. Joe Moore records the township board meetings so that folks can see the meeting. I look forward to the day that the townships host Zoom meetings so the constituents of the island can have a voice at these meetings. Here is a link to News on the Net – http://beaverisland.tv/
BEAVERISLAND.TV
beaverisland.tv
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Richards Rental Management Services please do.
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Here is the response I received regarding my request for a Zoom link to the meeting today. The email states the board is not voting on anything today. I am not assured that I will be informed as to when would be the right time to voice my opinion in person and I will be writing a letter that I will share to the Planning Commission as a whole. If you are concerned, I would suggest sending an email to your township planning commission. Here is a link to the website with their contact information – https://www.peainetwp.org/…/https___webgen1.revize.com…
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Planning commission members are looking to hear from you in writing.
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Cash grab
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What does the data show in other communities that implemented fees/taxes on STR? Did the number of long term rentals increase? Did the number of STR decrease? Other unintended consequences on the communities? How do these other communities use the money they collect? If the funds collected would be used toward building long term rental housing, would that be more palatable? But even this would be unfair to the owners of STR’s, why should only they foot the bill for the communities lack of affordable housing?
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I use Air BnB quite often when I travel.
Some cities I’ve stayed accrue a small nightly fee for the city/Twp the AirBnB is based in. It’s usually roughly $4-$6 a night. It’s right in the AirBnB charges if you look at the itemization on the receipt.
It’s automatically added to the bill so the guest pays it each time they book. It’s so small that I hardly think of it when ai book, but it’s probably for these exact reasons. This would also help offset the extra road grading and police/fire and emergency staffing that is needed when we have an influx of tourists.
Regarding LTH:
Would it make sense to begin looking for Grants or Federally Subsidized Housing Assistance to build some income-based LTH on the Island? Maybe it’s time to form a committee to investigate some potential suggestions that have been given? Or maybe there already is one working on this?
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