Votes at a glance: Madera County Board approves broadband MOU, short-term rental agreements, noise ordinance and administrative measures

Madera County's Board of Supervisors approved a series of resolutions, agreements and administrative changes during its March 18 meeting. The board handled this set of items largely without extended debate. Key approvals included regional broadband coordination, agreements to collect transient-occupancy tax from short-term rental platforms, adoption of a revised noise ordinance and a set of internal budget and personnel actions.

Highlights

- Broadband regional application: The board authorized the county administrative officer to sign agreements to participate with Merced, Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties in a five-county regional application for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD/BEED) program and the California Digital Equity Capacity Grant. The board approved an updated resolution and voted 5-0.

- Short-term rental tax collection (HomeAway/VRBO): The board authorized a voluntary collection agreement with HomeAway.com, Inc. (VRBO) to collect and remit a 9% transient occupancy tax and a 2.5% tourism business improvement district assessment on short-term rentals in unincorporated Madera County, effective March 1, 2025. The county treasurer-tax collector's office reported that Airbnb already collects and remits county taxes and that VRBO is the second-largest platform in county listings. The motion passed by roll call, 5-0.

- SmartEasyPay (monthly property-tax payment option): The board approved an agreement with Easy SmartPay, Inc. to provide an independent monthly-installment payment system for qualified taxpayers at no cost to the county; customers pay transaction fees only when using credit/debit cards. The item passed 5-0.

- Noise ordinance amendments: The board adopted changes to Chapter 9.58 (noise regulation) that formally set nighttime quiet hours (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.), increase citation amounts and allow enforcement officers to issue multiple citations per day when violations continue. The ordinance passed in a second-reading vote, 5-0.

- Building maintenance insurance reimbursement and budget transfers: The board approved a transfer of appropriations ($40,000) from grounds maintenance permanent salaries to maintenance equipment and accepted unanticipated insurance reimbursement revenue of $569,000 plus a $50,000 transfer from general fund balances to cover deductible-related building repairs. The measures were approved by the board (four-vote requirement satisfied; recorded 5-0).

- Personnel and classification actions: The Board set salary ranges and approved supplemental pay changes recommended by the civil service commission and human resources: traffic control maintenance supervisor (range 15, $65,873.95'$81,016.65), administrative services manager (range 23, $100,246.02'$123,289.96) and supplemental pay (10%) for the deputy chief information officer to cover chief information security officer duties until a permanent CISO classification is created. All personnel items passed 5-0.

Several board members and staff noted that the HomeAway agreement does not currently require VRBO to provide parcel-level detail to the county; staff and the treasurer-tax collector described state legislation (SB 346) under consideration that would require platforms to provide parcel or listing identifiers to help reconcile payments and compliance. The county treasurer reported that Airbnb already remits substantial quarterly tax payments to the county and that agreement with VRBO will broaden collections.

Votes and outcomes (selected items)

- Consent calendar: approved, roll-call 5-0. - Item 6d (HomeAway/VRBO voluntary collection agreement): approved, roll-call 5-0. - Item 6e (Easy SmartPay agreement): approved, roll-call 5-0. - Item 6f (Noise ordinance amendments, second reading): adopted, roll-call 5-0. - Item 6g (Broadband regional MOU/resolution): approved, roll-call 5-0. - Item 6h (Building maintenance budget transfers and unanticipated revenue): approved (four-vote requirement noted), roll-call 5-0. - Item 6i/6j/6k (personnel and compensation actions): approved, roll-call 5-0.

What the agreements mean

The HomeAway/VRBO voluntary collection agreement will require VRBO to collect and remit the county's existing transient-occupancy tax and tourism assessment for listings in the unincorporated county; the treasurer's office said VRBO will remit the funds but currently does not provide parcel-level listing IDs to the county, a limitation county staff said state legislation could address. Easy SmartPay offers taxpayers a third-party platform to make monthly installment payments for property taxes; ACH payments are fee-free to taxpayers, while card payments incur transaction fees.

Next steps and follow-ups

County staff said they will continue enforcement work to reconcile platform listings to registered county operators, pursue state-level support for greater platform data sharing, and return to the board as needed on implementation details for broadband prequalification and consultant procurement. Several supervisors asked staff to coordinate communications to ensure short-term rental operators receive compliance packets and to make outreach materials available in multiple languages.

Selected provenance: each vote and excerpt of the items appears in the meeting transcript; the board recorded roll-call approvals for the listed items.