Short-term rental operators in Juneau have less than three weeks to register their unit or units with the City and Borough of Juneau before they face a daily $25 fine after Oct. 8.
Late last week, the city launched its online registration form following the Assembly’s decision in early July to require annual registration. According to CBJ Finance Director Angie Flick, 117 units have been registered as of Monday. That number is far less than the nearly 600 active and intermittent listings of short-term rental units estimated in Juneau, according to data from a city-commissioned study this spring.
[Juneau Assembly passes controversial short-term rental registration requirement]
Flick said each unit must be separately registered.
“If you owned 10 condos, and used them all as short-term rentals, you’d register each of the condos,” she said.
City administrators have long argued the registration will assist in ensuring compliance with sales tax and hotel-bed tax requirements, along with giving the Assembly and public a clearer image of the number of short-term rentals operating in the capital city.
According to the ordinance, the registration requirement — which is cost-free to operators and renewed annually — will not place a limit on the number of dwellings a business or individual can operate, contrary to many concerns previously expressed by residents. However, during the July meeting, Assembly member Michelle Bonnet Hale said regulations could soon follow.
The ordinance describes short-term rentals as “a dwelling unit that is rented, leased, or otherwise advertised for occupancy for a period of less than 30 days.”
According to the online registration page, STRs located in Juneau are subject to both the 5% sales tax, as well as the 9% hotel tax for a total of 14%, based on the full price of the room rate.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651) 528-1807.
