This photo shows downtown Juneau in late October. The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Finance Committee OK’d the city to begin drafting an ordinance that would make it a requirement to register short-term rentals in Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

This photo shows downtown Juneau in late October. The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Finance Committee OK’d the city to begin drafting an ordinance that would make it a requirement to register short-term rentals in Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

City considers short-term rental registration requirement

New survey shows difficulty in assessing accurate data on short-term rental stock.

Juneau may soon have a clearer picture of its short-term rental ecosystem.

Last week the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Finance Committee OK’d the city to begin drafting an ordinance that would effectively make it a requirement to register short-term rentals with the city.

The decision came after a presentation of a recent study was shared with Assembly members which outlined the challenges of collecting data of the short-term rentals stock in Juneau without any means to differentiate or efficiently assess duplicate, intermittent and active versus inactive listings.

Under the proposed ordinance, short-term rentals would register with the city to obtain a permit. Since the ordinance is still being drafted, specifics about the registration program, such as fees, are not yet known.

According to the data analyzed, on just one given day in mid-February, there were an estimated 577 active and intermittent listings of short-term rentals across Juneau, however, the data can fluctuate from day to day, said Ruth Kostik, a CBJ revenue officer who gave the presentation.

“You can see there has been a lot of growth in short-term rentals in the past year, with the Ironman bump, we continue to have slower but steady growth since then,” she said.

The “Ironman bump” she referred to is the period when the initial announcement of the race was made back in August 2021. According to the data, the influx of short-term rentals in Juneau began to grow exponentially after that period.

However, how much growth is still difficult to say for certain, Kostik explained, as the study suggests that of the 577 short-term rentals accounted for, it’s estimated at least 173 could be duplicate listings. Along with those challenges, she said the listings often show inconsistent identification and data depending on the platforms used.

According to the survey, nearly 85% of the listings identified in the study are for renting out an entire home/apartment, while the remaining 15% or so represent single/shared room listings or more off-beat rentals like campsites, tiny homes or boats.

For each of those listings, the person or business offering the short-term rentals is required to comply with the city’s sales tax code, which includes charging the renter for both regular and hotel bed tax to then be remitted to the city.

The study identified a slew of challenges with understanding the number of operators complying with the city’s sales tax code in Juneau’s short-term rentals stock. Kostik said the study found that short-term rental operators often either don’t know or understand the city’s sales tax requirements for the rentals and in turn are not complying.

Kostik said if the city chose to implement short-term rental registration, a lot of the challenges outlined by the study could be resolved.

Some of the things that the registration would do are require operators to display their permit license number in their online listings, which would streamline the city’s ability to decipher which short-term rentals are active and give more accurate data on the inventory of rentals in the city, Kostik explained.

“With requiring short-term rentals we can collect good information, consistent information so that we have a quality inventory,” she said. “It makes it easier for us to make sure people are in compliance with sales tax because we could tie them to an existing sales tax account or make sure they understand what their sales tax requirements are and give them good information to help keep them in compliance right away.”

She said it could also set the city up for any future steps if it chooses to pursue further short-term rental monitoring or compliance enforcement.

City Manager Rorie Watt told the Empire he thinks it’s not out of the question that the city might consider placing limitations on short-term rentals in the coming years. He said that would more likely happen if the registration requirement exposed more accurate data suggesting the density of short-term rentals in the city is harming certain neighborhoods or is taking up too much of the housing stock.

He said if the city OKs the ordinance to require registration, he expects some pushback from operators and encouraged the public to get involved with the process as it proceeds in the coming weeks.

“We want to understand what’s going on with the housing market on all steps, and registration is the next step for better compliance on sales tax,” he said.

• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.

More in News

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File
The Aurora Borealis glows over the Mendenhall Glacier in 2014.
Aurora Forecast

Forecasts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute for the week of March. 19

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 21, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

This September 2015, photo provided by NOAA Fisheries shows an aerial view of adult female Southern Resident killer whale (J16) swimming with her calf (J50). New research suggests that inbreeding may be a key reason that the Pacific Northwest’s endangered population of killer whales has failed to recover despite decades of conservation efforts. The so-called “southern resident” population of orcas stands at 73 whales. That’s just two more than in 1971, after scores of the whales were captured for display in marine theme parks around the world. (NOAA Fisheries / Vancouver Aquarium)
The big problem for endangered orcas? Inbreeding

Southern resident killer whales haven’t regularly interbred with other populations in 30 generations.

Juneau Brass Quintet co-founding member Bill Paulick along with Stephen Young performs “Shepherd’s Hey” to a packed house at the Alaska State Museum on Saturday as part of the quintet’s season-ending performance. Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum sponsored the event with proceeds going to the musicians and FoSLAM. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Top brass turns out for event at State Museum

Free performance puts a capt on a busy season.

Alaska’s state legislators are slated to get the equivalent of 6,720 additional $5 bills in their salary next year via a $33,600 raise to a total of $84,000 due to a veto Monday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy of bill rejecting raises for legislative and executive branch employees. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Veto negates rejection of pay hikes for governor, legislators

Dunleavy clears way for 67% hike in legislative pay, 20% in his to take effect in coming months

On Thursday, the Alaska State Board of Education approved a resolution that supports barring transgender female students from participating in girls’ sports. (Getty Images illustration via Alaska Beacon)
State school board supports barring transgender female students from participating in girls’ sports

On Thursday, the Alaska State Board of Education approved a resolution that… Continue reading

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire 
State Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, asks Randy Bates, director of the Division of Water for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, about state water quality regulations some fish hatcheries are calling harmful during a Senate Finance Committee meeting Friday. The meeting was to review the DEC’s proposal to take over responsibility for many federal Clean Water Act permits, claiming it will be more responsible and efficient for development projects. Some of the senators questioned both the cost of the state taking over a process currently funded by the federal government, as well as the state’s ability to properly due to the job within the guidelines for such a takeover.
Wading into rule change proposals affecting clean water

National PFAS limits, state takeover of wetlands permits raise doubts about who should take charge

Guy Archibald collects clam shell specimens on Admiralty Island. Archibald was the lead author of a recently released study that linked a dramatic increase of lead levels in Hawk Inlet’s marine ecosystem and land surrounding it on Admiralty Island to tailings released from the nearby Hecla Greens Creek Mine. (Courtesy Photo / John Neary)
New study links mine to elevated lead levels in Hawk Inlet

Hecla Greens Creek Mine official ardently refutes the report’s findings.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Saturday, March 18, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Most Read