Burlington official says local short-term rental rules fund housing, aid enforcement; chamber urges more data

Summary

Witnesses told the House Committee on General and Housing that Burlington’s 2022 short-term rental ordinance created an annual registration, requires owner-occupancy for most listings, and has directed roughly $1 million into the Burlington Housing Trust Fund; the chamber called for better statewide data and said STRs support the visitor economy.

Burlington’s short-term rental ordinance, adopted after three years of local debate and in effect in September 2022, requires hosts to register annually, meet city rental-housing standards and remit city taxes that largely fund the Burlington Housing Trust Fund, city officials told the Vermont House Committee on General and Housing on Jan. 31.

Brian Pine, the director of the City of Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office, told the committee that the city’s annual registration distinguishes whole-unit rentals from partial-unit, enforces an owner-occupancy requirement in most cases, and collects a city surcharge in addition to state tax. “If you get a good grade, the city's not gonna come back for a long for 5 years, probably. But if you get some failures, you're gonna see someone much more often,” Pine said, describing Burlington’s inspection and enforcement approach.

Pine said the city’s monitoring and a private vendor that scans platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO produce a registry the city…

Burlington official says local short-term rental rules fund housing, aid enforcement; chamber urges more data

Summary

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