Committee authorizes public hearing and adopts local law to add short‑term rentals to hotel occupancy tax

Tompkins County’s Housing and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously on July 16 to authorize a public hearing on proposed Local Law C of 2025 and then moved to adopt that same local law, which modifies the county hotel occupancy tax law to capture short‑term rentals and clarifies registration and penalty provisions.

Why it matters: The amendment explicitly defines short‑term rentals as taxable lodging under the county’s 5% room occupancy tax and creates a registration requirement for short‑term rental operators. County staff said the change implements state statutory changes enacted in 2024–2025 that established a framework for taxing and registering short‑term rentals.

What the law does: County staff summarized three principal changes: - Incorporates short‑term rentals into the county’s hotel occupancy tax base so operators of short‑term rentals are subject to the tax collection and remittance regime. - Establishes a registration requirement for short‑term rentals (two‑year registration cycle). - Clarifies penalties for failure to register (referenced as section 150‑14 in the local code) and brings the county’s local law into alignment with state guidance rather than seeking an enabling law change at the state level.

Who enforces safety and health requirements: Committee members asked whether the county will perform inspections to verify fire extinguishers, evacuation diagrams and other safety items. Holly (county staff) and Nick (planning staff) said the state requires registration but does not mandate county staff to perform systematic on‑site inspections; registrants must sign an attestation that they meet safety and health requirements. Municipalities may maintain their own registration or inspection programs; staff noted the law does not preempt municipal systems such as the City of Ithaca’s registration.

Institutional questions: Legislator Deborah Dawson asked whether higher‑education institutions (Cornell, Ithaca College) would be captured when they rent rooms for alumni weekends or non‑academic events; staff said the draft law does not specifically address institutional exemptions and that the committee could request modifications before final adoption if legislators want to clarify treatment of institutional lodging.

Process and votes: The committee first authorized a public hearing (moved by Anne, seconded by Deborah) and later adopted Local Law C of 2025 (moved by Deborah, seconded by Anne); both measures passed unanimously on roll call. Staff will hold the public hearing as authorized and bring any amendments back to the committee before finalizing implementation details.

Next steps and timeline: Staff said the registration will operate on a two‑year cycle. The committee also asked staff to clarify how the law interacts with municipal registration systems, and which categories of lodging (including institutional or academic‑use lodging) are included or exempt. The committee will hold the public hearing on the adopted schedule and consider any amendments that arise from public comment.