“While the bill aims to boost housing affordability, it does so at the expense of regular Californians who are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of living,” the company wrote in an email alert last week urging hosts to reach out to lawmakers. While legislators have made a few unsuccessful attempts to regulate vacation rentals over the past decade, these fights largely played out at the local level, where the effects of their surging popularity with travelers is more immediate.īut the prospect of a tax that rental platforms worry would put them at a disadvantage to hotels has sent them scrambling, with Airbnb rallying its hosts in recent weeks to oppose a bill it argues would “hurt the local tourism economy.” The Senate passed the measure today, with the bare minimum of 27 votes needed and sent it to the Assembly. “I see this bill really saying everyone has a role to play.” “One of the things that I get asked very often by my local cities and counties is: ‘Where is the money to build the housing?’” Limón told CalMatters. This statewide surcharge, an addition to the local transient occupancy taxes that most communities already require, could generate an estimated $150 million annually to build or rehabilitate low- and middle-income housing. Monique Limón, a Santa Barbara Democrat, would impose a 15% tax on short-term rentals - the homes and rooms that owners rent out like hotels for 30 days or less at a time - starting in 2025. The proposal has revived the debate over Airbnb and its role in the housing crisis.Ĭalifornia lawmakers are considering a measure this session that would tax short-term rentals to fund affordable housing projects, a proposal that has revived dormant tensions at the state Capitol over the rise of companies like Airbnb and Vrbo and their responsibility for the state’s constrained housing supply. A bill to tax Airbnb and other short-term rentals to fund affordable housing projects could be voted on by the Senate as soon as today.
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