Login | March 12, 2025
Bill would limit government regulations on certain short-term rental operators
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: March 11, 2025
A central Ohio state lawmaker seeks to protect the property rights of short-term rental operators throughout Ohio with legislation that would prohibit jurisdictions from imposing regulations on such an enterprise.
Sen. Andrew Brenner, a Delaware Republican, told members of the Local Government Committee in the Senate that significant regulations have been imposed by municipalities and other jurisdictions against short-term rental operators across the nation.
“These include large licensing fees, the use of zoning to prohibit short-term rentals in residential
areas and/or lottery systems for deciding which homeowners receive licenses to operate these rentals,”
he said.
He has introduced Senate Bill 104 to outlaw those practices in addition to outright bans on short-term rentals and requirements that the properties be owner-occupied.
The bill, however, would authorize townships, counties and municipalities to require registration or licensing of short-term rental properties as long as the fee for such a license or registration does not exceed $20 per property, according to analysis by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
Proceeds from the registration/licensing fees may be used only for enforcement of the jurisdiction’s short-term rental regulations.
Brenner highlighted the component of SB 104 that would require all short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, collect and remit local lodging taxes through a centralized collection model.
“A streamlined, centralized tax collection law will result in more revenue for localities and ensure
that communities can fully benefit from tourism at a time of mounting budget challenges, both through tax revenue and guest spending in neighborhoods,” he said. “However, in order to achieve these objectives, thoughtful consideration must be given to creating clear, modern and simple tax collection systems.”
The bill calls on all governmental subdivisions to extend the practice of levying lodging taxes to short-term rental properties.
“If voter approval was required to enact the original tax, the bill allows the subdivision to amend the enacting resolution without receiving further voter approval in order to effectuate the extension,” analysis noted.
Brenner said governments generally tend to see more revenue when implementing practical rules allowing the short-term rental platforms to collect and remit taxes on behalf of property owners.
“For example, after Tennessee implemented a centralized tax collection system, Tennessee saw an increase of approximately 320 percent in the amount of taxes collected from approximately $42 million to $135 million in 2023,” he said.
Ohio short-term rentals in 2023 contributed $258 million in total tax revenue across state, local and federal taxes, with guest spending supporting about 13,400 jobs, testimony provided.
SB 104 is similar to SB 299, which was introduced in the previous session of the General Assembly, never securing a committee vote.
The current bill awaits further action by the committee.
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