Shawnee presents short-term rental rules; current ordinance excludes most home-share listings from occupancy tax
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Summary
Visit Shawnee reported 25 active short-term rentals and outlined the city's registration process; current city ordinance defines hotels as structures with three or more rooms, so most short-term rentals are not subject to the occupancy (hotel/motel) surcharge without an ordinance change.
Shawnee — City staff and Visit Shawnee on Jan. 20 outlined local rules and tax requirements for short-term rentals, saying the current ordinance generally excludes most home-share listings from the citys occupancy surcharge.
Stacy Moore, director of tourism (Visit Shawnee), told the commission the city requires registration of short-term rentals under Ordinance No. 2804 NS (adopted 2004). As of Jan. 1, staff said the city had 25 short-term rentals active; that figure had varied from about 12 during holidays to roughly 40 at peak season. Moore said registration is live while additional components of the program (including a 24-hour complaint line and tax-collection tools) are still being implemented.
Moore read the citys ordinance definition of a hotel or motel, which requires three or more rooms used for transient guests. "The three or more rooms is gonna knock out most of our short term rentals," she said. Because of that definition, short-term rentals that are single houses or single units typically do not fall under the city's existing occupancy surcharge (sometimes called the bed tax). Moore said the commission could direct staff to evaluate changing the language from "three or more rooms" to "one or more rooms" to capture more short-term rentals under the surcharge.
Moore also explained that short-term rental hosts must register with the Oklahoma Secretary of State, the Oklahoma Tax Commission (for sales/occupancy taxes), and federal tax authorities as business owners. The city is working on an automated software platform to identify and notify owners who are not remitting tax; the platform will issue automated letters and offer resources to register and pay.
Moore noted that the citys registration and tracking aim to protect neighborhood character, provide guest safety mechanisms, and enable tax compliance. No ordinance change to the occupancy surcharge was proposed or adopted at the meeting.