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Sullivan County begins short-term rental registrations; treasurer reports sales-tax uptick
Summary
Treasurer Nancy Buck told the Management & Budget Committee the county received a $789,000 sales tax remittance (up $47,000) and staff described a new short-term-rental registration and outreach effort, including 700 letters and a requirement that new registrants affirm compliance with state law.
Sullivan County Treasurer Nancy Buck told the Management & Budget Committee on March 13 that the county received a sales-tax remittance of $789,000, an increase of $47,000 from the prior reported receipt. Buck discussed short-term rental registration and outreach the county has begun as New York State moves to standardize sales-tax collection for short-term rentals.
Buck said the county hired a vendor, Deckard, to help identify short-term rentals; the vendor produced address lists that required follow-up because some entries were out of date or incorrect. “We sent out, like, 700 letters,” Buck said, and county staff fielded substantial correspondence as residents and property owners responded.
The treasurer said the county updated its registration form so new short-term-rental registrants must affirm compliance with the relevant state requirements; that affirmation will be required for new registrations only, not retroactively for older registrations. Buck said the county is discussing with Airbnb and other platforms about the timing of collections; some platforms have told counties they will begin collecting sales tax on March 15 instead of March 1. Buck noted the state bill that would change collection dates had not yet been signed, and staff are treating some operational questions as an “honor system” while awaiting final state action.
Committee members and staff said the county can request that the state provide short-term-rental sales-tax collections broken down by town to give local officials context. County staff said Deckard's data can be displayed by town and that the county already shares registered short-term-rental lists with towns for enforcement and follow-up.
Buck said county staff are working with the county attorney’s office and town officials on best practices and possible shared guidance, noting some towns already have local regulations and others do not. Staff proposed sharing registration data regularly — for example, quarterly — to help towns identify addresses in their jurisdiction.
No formal action on short-term-rental policy or enforcement was taken at the March 13 meeting; the discussion focused on registration, outreach and data-sharing procedures.
