Short-term rental owners in Juneau voiced their opposition to a proposed registration program this week. City staff said the program would help them collect sales tax and get better data on Juneau’s short-term rental market.
The Juneau Assembly was set to vote on the program at its Monday meeting. But after hearing from rental operators, they decided it needed more work.
Several speakers, like Douglas resident Maryann Ray, said the additional paperwork would be onerous.
“There’s a lot of control in here that is being applied to, what ends up being in most cases, just small mom and pop operations,” Ray said.
The program would assign a unique number to each short-term rental unit and require owners to include that number in online listings. They’d face a $25 fee each time they list rentals online without proper registration.
Assembly members began discussing further regulations at a meeting earlier this month, looking to communities like Sitka and Wasilla as examples. Sitka requires short-term rental owners to live on the property for half of the year, while Wasilla issues just 75 permits per year.
Dawn Dulebohn, who also lives in Douglas, has been an AirBnb host since 2019. She said regulating short-term rentals went against efforts to support local businesses.
“I’m local, I live here year-round, I work here year-round,” she said. “But when the city takes steps to hinder my income, which is necessary to live in such an expensive city, it reminds me of the actions the city has taken to put seasonal people first by supporting the cruise industry.”
Throughout the country, the increase in short-term rentals has left housing markets with fewer, more expensive options. But on Monday, several operators said the solution to Juneau’s housing shortage was to open up more land for development, not restrict short-term rentals.
In an interview, Assembly member Michelle Hale said the amount of muskeg and elevation changes on city-owned land makes it harder to develop than the public might realize.
“Very little of the city land that is out there is easily developable,” she said.
Three people spoke in support of the registration program. Hanna Davis runs an AirBnb out of her duplex. She said she understood the city’s need to collect data on short-term rentals while housing continues to be scarce.
“The city deserves metrics on our current housing issues,” she said. “If we are lucky enough to own property in this wonderful city, then it is our job to be transparent with the city as well.”
The Assembly voted 5-3 to send the ordinance back to the Committee of the Whole. Member Wáahlaal Gíidaak was absent.
“I think we can bring this back in a package that the public will understand, that the users will be able to comply with,” said member Wade Bryson. “Let’s make sure we get this right.”
