Renting a room on Airbnb in Salem may soon be more expensive after Salem city councilors voted 6-3 to move forward with a proposed fee increase for short-term vacation rentals following a public hearing on Monday, March 9. Operators of rentals on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO would pay 2% of roo m costs to the city starting May 1 if councilors finalize the fee at a later date. Hotels and motels in Salem already pay the fee, the vast majority of which goes to Travel Salem for tourism promotion. Salem Mayor Julie Hoy joined Council President Linda Nishioka and Councilors Paul Tigan, Shane Matthews, Vanessa Nordyke and Micki Varney in voting to advance the new fee. Those who voted in favor said it was only fair that short-term rentals pay into the city’s tourism promotion initiative.  Councilors Deanna Gwyn, Irvin Brown and Mai Vang voted against it, saying they were uncomfortable voting for any new taxes or fees without proper engagement and communication with those the fee would affect.  “I just want to make sure that folks have the opportunity to be heard, because I’m not sure that they were,” Gwyn said leading up to the vote.  Three community members testified during Monday’s public hearing. Two of them, including one person who rents out space in his house, were opposed to the new fee and called it unfair. The other was neutral on the matter. Prior to the public hearing dozens of people in Salem who run short-term rentals submitted written public testimony opposing the new fee.  If councilors finalize the 2% city fee, it would be on top of an existing 9% city tax on all lodging operators.  All lodging operations, including short-term options, can take advantage of advertising support offered by Travel Salem, the agency’s president and CEO Angie Villery told council Monday night. City officials previously said they don’t have an estimate of how much the new 2% fee would raise for Travel Salem.  Varney asked Villery what the reasoning was behind charging short-term rentals the 2% fee Monday night.  “To create parity, to make sure that the fees that are being collected are being shared amongst all of the lodging proprietors in our community, we wanted to bring the short-term vacation rentals into that mix,” Villery said.  Villery said if the fee is passed Travel Salem will make sure those operating short-term rentals have a seat at an agency committee that oversees how the money is spent.  The city is working to bring short-term rental operators into compliance with city law requiring a license to operate. On Feb. 2, the city sent out letters to unlicensed operators letting them know they were required to obtain a license to operate in Salem, Planning Administrator Lisa Anderson-Ogilvie told Salem Reporter ahead of the meeting. Another round of letters was sent to those operators that did not respond, according to a staff report from Salem Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston.  Anderson-Ogilvie told councilors Monday that for a private residence where the owner is present to become licensed as a short-term rental, the operator needs a license that costs $300 with a $181 annual renewal fee.  Other short-term rental licenses can vary depending on the property’s zoning. In some cases, operating a short-term rental requires a conditional use permit which can cost as much as $7,000, according to the city’s website. In December 2024, Salem city councilors voted unanimously to renew the tourism fee for hotels and motels for a period of five years. The biggest concerns among the dissenting councilors was that short-term rental operators did not have enough notice of the new fee, and that it was inappropriate to implement any new taxes or fees on people at this time.  “I am not a fan of taxing someone at this particular moment, I’m just not a fan of it,” Brown said leading up to the vote.  Vang said she was hearing from short-term rental operators that they were caught off guard by the new fee and said she was also hesitant to vote in favor because there are currently no projections for how much the additional 2% fee on short-term rentals would bring in to support Travel Salem’s work.  “I want to make sure that when we create policy and we create ordinances that affect people and their ability to make income for themselves that we do it in a thoughtful way,” she said. “From what I am hearing I am hesitant to move forward with this ordinance as it is and as it is being presented to me.”  Gwyn said the city’s current 9% tax on lodging operators is already too high. She said she wasn’t convinced that short-term operators knew they could weigh in on the issue. “My concern is if the short-term rental operators didn’t even know they needed to be registered, how did they know they had a voice?” Gwyn said. “My vote isn’t against the (Tourism Promotional Area), I just want to make sure we have all voices at the table and that there has been adequate conversation with our short-term rental operators.” Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post City councilors vote to advance new tourism fee on Salem Airbnbs, other short-term rentals appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less