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Council discusses expanding lodging tax to short-term rentals as state bills loom
Summary
Gahanna councilors discussed expanding the city’s lodging tax to cover short‑term rentals and weighed local regulatory options while monitoring pending state bills that could change local authority.
Council members opened a preliminary discussion on whether to expand Gahanna’s lodging tax to short‑term rentals and how local regulation of short‑term rentals might interact with pending state legislation.
State context and local options: Council member Bowers said Senate Bill 104 (pending at the Ohio General Assembly) would preempt some forms of local short-term-rental regulation while directing an expansion of lodging tax collections to all short-term accommodations. She told colleagues that Airbnb and other industry stakeholders have supported excise-tax extension in other jurisdictions and that local Realtor groups and state tourism organizations have also weighed in on expansion.
Local perspective and concerns: Council members generally said expanding the lodging tax would create a level playing field between hotels and short-term rentals, and some council members urged the administration to pursue the tax expansion sooner rather than later. Others urged caution, noting pending state action and the need to consider regulatory tools for neighborhood impacts such as parking, noise and property-use changes. Council member Renner specifically raised the potential community character impacts of conversions of long-term housing to short-term rentals.
Next steps: Council tentatively instructed staff to pursue the lodging-tax expansion if there is no state-level obstacle, and to schedule a more detailed discussion of possible regulatory tools for short-term rentals in a future committee meeting once staff and the city attorney compile legal options and case-law research. Council also noted that the Ohio Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and Columbus-area stakeholders support a lodging-tax extension and were active at recent hearings.
Ending: No ordinance was introduced; council asked the administration and city attorney’s office to prepare options for tax expansion and to consult with the Gahanna Convention & Visitors Bureau and local stakeholders before returning with a recommendation.
