The Pryor Creek City Council voted May 20 to request that the Oklahoma Tax Commission collect the city’s hotel/motel tax revenue and discussed proposed changes to the city code’s definition of taxable lodging to ensure short-term rentals are included.

Why it matters: Asking the Tax Commission to collect hotel/motel tax centralizes collection and enforcement; providing a clear, inclusive definition of taxable lodging is a prerequisite for OTC collection and will determine whether short-term rental platforms are accountable to remit the city’s lodging tax.

What the council discussed: City staff presented a proposed revision to the code definition of “hotel/motel” (city code 2-2a-2 definitions as discussed in the meeting). The suggested language would define taxable lodging broadly to “include hotels, apartment hotels, motels, tourist homes, houses on courts, lodging houses, bed and breakfast inns, inns, rooming houses, trailer houses, trailer motels, properties leased or rented for non permanent residency, apartments, and sleeping rooms not occupied by ‘permanent residents,’ and all other facilities where rooms or sleeping accommodations are furnished for a consideration.” The proposed change would explicitly include short-term rental platforms (for example, listings on Airbnb or VRBO) when the property is leased or rented for nonpermanent residency. The proposed definition would exclude hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, university dormitories and other educational or charitable institutions, as stated in the draft language.

The council noted that the resolution requesting OTC collection requires the city to submit a definitive list of taxable lodging types to the Tax Commission. Staff said the change emerged from a prior O&I (ordinance and improvements) committee discussion and is intended to provide the most inclusive definition for collection purposes. Councilmembers asked for clarification on whether the item would proceed by ordinance and were reminded the action on the day was limited to approving language and advancing the item.

Action taken: The council approved the resolution requesting the Oklahoma Tax Commission collect the city’s hotel/motel tax revenue. The council advanced the code-definition revision for further processing and directed that the city provide the OTC with the definition list as required.

Next steps: The city attorney and staff will finalize the definition language for ordinance drafting and for submission to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, and the council will consider formal ordinance action and subsequent readings as required by local law.