Gov. Hochul’s new short-term rental law aims to bolster local economies in the Adirondacks, yet questions remain about the lack of statewide regulation standards.
By Tim Rowland
A short-term rental law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Christmas Eve could generate millions for Adirondack governments, but hopes for uniform statewide regulations were dashed.
Town leaders also say the governor pushed the financial burden of creating short-term rental (STR) registries back on local governments, contending the state didn’t have the money for such an operation — as if local governments did.
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Keene Supervisor Joe Pete Wilson said his board was hoping for reasonable statewide STR regulations that would eliminate the need for towns to become embroiled in an issue that has split some communities down the middle. But he said those provisions were amended out of the bill prior to signage. The revised bill must still be affirmed in the new session of the legislature, but that’s expected to happen.
“We’re going to be back to towns and villages having their own patchwork regulations. I’m disappointed the governor didn’t sign the bill as it was passed.”
Keene Supervisor Joe Pete Wilson
A ‘meaningful’ revenue stream
Still, local officials were heartened by aspects of the law, which applies sales taxes to short-term rentals, leveling the playing field with traditional hotels to which the tax already applies. Asked if this would be a meaningful revenue stream for sparsely populated Hamilton County in the heart of the park, Real Property Tax Service Director Barry Baker quipped, “In Hamilton County any revenue stream we get is going to be meaningful.”
Baker said the county hasn’t yet calculated exact figures, but that his office expects to complete a report early this year. Hamilton County, where vacation homes can make up a great majority of a town’s housing inventory, has lightly regulated the STR industry.
It is one of the few counties in the state that has no occupancy tax, Baker said, and only two towns — Inlet and Lake Pleasant — have created STR registries of their own.
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The county has also struggled with increased demands on its budget, including damaging storms that have washed out roads and bridges. “We’re still paying for damage from the Halloween Storm” of 2019, Baker said.
Similarly, Essex County — which estimates the new sales tax from STRs will generate $2 million — has seen its budgets wracked by storms over the past two summers, has more or less made climate change a budgeted expense, creating dedicated capital funds that can be held in reserve for damaging storms.
Getting all the towns on board
Essex County has an STR registry in place, but only a handful of its 18 towns have passed specific STR regulations. In Wilmington, which passed STR regulations after a stormy stretch of community discord, town board member Laura Hooker said the new state law is beneficial for its tax equalization and provisions requiring third-party insurance.
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“I choose to be optimistic about the trajectory of our town, especially given the new state STR regulations,” said Hooker, who rallied community support for the bill. “I feel that it is high time that the hotels being run out of residential homes be treated as such.”
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Wilmington registers and collects fees from owners of STRs, and regulates its operation through a program funded by the town. “All of our STR-related business and registration is run by our one-man show: code enforcement officer Douglas Nemec,” Hooker said. “He does a fantastic job and we are very thankful to have him. We already have a fee structure in place, so the new law allows us to continue doing what we are doing.”
Similarly Warren County — home of Lake George tourist destinations — already has a registry and occupancy taxes in place, but will be aided by an estimated $1.2 million in new sales tax from its nearly 2,000 STRs.
“We are pleased Governor Hochul signed the bill with the proposed amendment that allows municipalities to oversee their own short-term rental registries. Collecting sales tax for short-rental stays puts these accommodations on more of an equal footing with hotels and motels.”
Warren County Administrator John Taflan
STRs have been blamed in some circles for depleting the stock of affordable housing, and defended in others as an economic engine that brings jobs to communities that need them. This division has often become impassioned and personal in small communities, which have had trouble equitably regulating an industry that can run from sprawling houses owned by absentee holding companies to retirees renting out a room to pay the tax bill.
Like many towns, Wilson said Keene had paused its own short-term rental law in hopes the state would standardize the regulations — now it’s back to the drawing board.
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The bill was intensely opposed by the booking companies that are generally responsible for collecting applicable taxes. “This unnecessary bill imposes a new, unfunded mandate on counties and creates a complicated bureaucratic system that burdens homeowners trying to earn modest income to pay their bills,” the booking agency Airbnb said in a statement, adding that it could stunt New York tourism in general.
Local officials are already closely watching the industry, which is showing signs of cooling from the fever pitch created by the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this decade.
In Indian Lake, Supervisor Brian Wells said his town worked on an STR law for two years before it was ultimately voted down out of concerns for added paperwork and bureaucracy. Like the rest of the Adirondacks, his town suffers from a lack of affordable housing, although he’s noticed more homes coming onto the market of late.
“There’s a division on (STRs) in Hamilton County, and I know the issue is going to come up again,” Wells said.
Pictured at top: Photos from around Old Forge show plenty of “for rent” signs but the vast majority are advertising short-term rentals. Explorer file photos by Jamie Organski
STR’s are a commercial operation and should only be allowed in areas where hotel/motels are allowed, period. I don’t mind neighbors, but I don’t want to live next to a commercial operation. I’m afraid many of our elected officials are more concerned with dollars than protecting the rights of residents. I understand the need for funding to support infrastructure, but we don’t need to sell our souls to get it, nor remove houses from the long-term rental market thus compounding our housing shortage.
Airbnb has no business talking about undue burdens. If you clean for Airbnb & leave … should the client want you to continue, Airbnb has the legal framework to bring legal action against you 50k. Adirondacks is a geopolitical boundary. If town officials let it happen (as the town of Keene allowed hundreds of people to park from chapel pond illegally past the Ausable club for 5yrs plus without ticketing people. And don’t tell me about it being “rangers” jobs. Rangers live in that town. That town and area is a disaster) then they are at fault. I’d highly suggest these “well meaning educated” people running the towns to get real answers and start working within the very tight framework of the park laws. If you can’t build a home outside a town without having 8.5 acres, certainly there is an answer. Might be time to protest. Maybe drive from Albany to Plattsburgh on a Holiday weekend on the Northway going 45mph with enough people. Worked before.
That Indian Lake guy spent 2 yrs!! And they said NO??!!
Wake up and smell the 21st century. Our governments don’t want your opinions they want compliance. Grow up citizens of the Adirondacks, they don’t care about your “title” of some small meaningless towns. Young families ought to NEVER move here. It’s unaffordable EVERYWHERE!! The real estate market doesn’t market to real Adirondack residents. No it’s always “how far is the house from “airports”, public transport, trails and ski resorts. It’s a blue line for a reason and if you don’t stand your ground immediately, unfortunately this happens. It didn’t happen overnight. Town officials allowed it to happen. All of us as citizens need to come together. Lack of courage in leadership brought us here. Now what?
Typical left wing article. Make sure you somehow include global warming/climate change/ or other buzz word in everything you write about, whether it’s applicable or not.