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Beaufort County Council approves settlement with Airbnb, directs proceeds to lodging tax and authorizes ethics disclosure
Summary
Beaufort County Council voted Jan. 13 to accept a settlement offer resolving litigation with Airbnb over unpaid local accommodations taxes and business license fees for short-term rentals, and to allocate the county's share of proceeds between local ATAX revenue and the general fund.
Beaufort County Council voted on Jan. 13 to accept a settlement in litigation against Airbnb over the platform’s failure to collect and remit local accommodations taxes and business license fees for short-term rentals in rural Beaufort County. Council authorized the county administrator to sign a settlement agreement for an amount discussed in executive session (amount not specified in the public record).
The council directed that the county’s prorated share of settlement receipts be split 90% to local accommodations tax (ATAX) and deposited into the local ATAX account and 10% to business license fees deposited into the general fund. Councilmembers said ATAX-funded boat-ramp and public-access projects would be an appropriate use of that money, though final allocations will be determined later.
Council also approved amending the county’s fee agreement with outside counsel handling the Airbnb litigation. The council’s motion authorizes the county administrator to execute the amended fee agreement with the outside attorneys identified in executive session, a change the county attorney said would modestly increase the county’s net recovery for taxpayers.
Separately, council voted unanimously to waive the attorney–client privilege for email communications dated June 2021 through August 2023 between county attorneys or retained counsel and county administration or counsel, except for communications that relate to active litigation or ongoing mediation or settlement negotiations. The documents will be provided to the State Ethics Commission pursuant to subpoenas dated Feb. 27, 2024 and a renewed request from December 2024.
The settlement amount and the amended-fee terms were described in executive session; the public record does not include the dollar figure. Council motions authorized the county administrator to finalize and sign the settlement and the amended fee agreement once the documents are prepared.
No public comment was taken on the settlement at the time of the votes; council members who spoke during the post‑executive‑session motions said they favored directing the settlement funds to community-facing uses supported by ATAX rules.
Details that were not specified at the public meeting — including the settlement dollar amount and the exact amended-fee language — will be included in the executed agreements and any subsequent staff reports when available.
