Kittitas County study session reviews short-term rental survey; committee to analyze 848 responses

KITTITAS COUNTY — County staff updated commissioners and an advisory committee on a countywide short-term rental survey and early analysis during a Kittitas County Board of Commissioners study session.

Jeremy Johnston, CDS long-range planner, told the board that “the survey was issued on Feb. 4” and, as of that morning, “we had 848 responses.” He said the survey is scheduled to run 60 days and conclude on April 5 and that for a question asking whether respondents support short-term rental regulations there were 819 responses with roughly 59% in favor and 40% opposed. Johnston said staff is still analyzing open-ended comments and checking IP addresses for abnormalities.

The survey contained several open-ended items and question-level response totals that staff summarized for the committee. Johnston said question 12 — on which regulations respondents would support — had 644 responses; question 20, a general comments box, had 356 responses. He described the analysis as preliminary and said staff will continue reviewing comments as the survey runs.

Committee member Jessica Carricker, who spoke during the public comment portion and during the committee discussion, urged officials to consider the fiscal impacts of any rules and to coordinate with lodging-tax data. Carricker said a state House bill under consideration would add “a 6% additional tax just on short term rentals,” which she said would push combined fees and taxes to about 16–16.5 percent in Kittitas County and, with platform fees, could exceed 20 percent for some bookings. She also noted limits to third-party data: committee members and others cautioned that AirDNA tracks Airbnb and VRBO listings only and may not capture other platforms or direct-owner bookings.

Commissioner (District 2) said the committee was formed after town-hall feedback, particularly from an Easton town hall, and described the panel’s purpose as gathering a broad range of perspectives so the board would not act on “a single voice.” The commissioner said the survey shows strong public participation and that staff and the committee should analyze results before recommending any regulatory path.

Speakers raised several recurring themes: enforcement capacity for any new code, the county’s ability to fund regulation and enforcement, impacts on tourism and lodging-tax revenue, and differences between master-planned resort approvals and other properties. Staff and committee members discussed seeking additional data from AirDNA and from the Chamber of Commerce to better estimate how many short-term rentals are active and where revenue is generated. Johnston and others said they would correlate AirDNA results with local lodging-tax and ZIP-code information and that County staff would forward available datasets to commissioners and the committee.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the study session. Commissioners and staff said that if the board chooses to pursue regulations, the next steps would include drafting code language, public outreach (open houses and presentations), review by the planning commission, and a public participation plan. Staff and committee members noted that the committee’s current charter is broadly written: it is charged with determining whether regulations are warranted, and any narrower scope or regulatory proposal would be developed after the survey and data analysis.

The discussion also referenced other jurisdictions. Commissioners and committee members suggested reviewing Chelan County’s experience as an early adopter of short-term rental regulation to learn from its challenges. Staff mentioned a prior staff member, Chase Peterson, who compiled comparisons of other counties’ short-term-rental codes.

The study session closed with staff and commissioners agreeing to continue analysis of the survey results and to assemble additional data sources before presenting any draft regulations to the committee or the planning commission. No timeline for a final recommendation was set during the meeting.