Bay County trims short-term rental managing-agent fee to $35 after public complaints about inspection delays

Bay County commissioners on Monday approved an amendment to the county’s FY2025 fees and fines schedule that lowers a proposed registration modification fee for short-term rental managing agents from $100 to $35 while leaving the rest of the schedule unchanged.

The action followed public comment from short-term rental owners who said they tried to comply but received no follow-up from county staff. Patrice Couch of Lynn Haven told the commission she submitted a complete application in January 2024 but “no one followed up either to my email or followed up to schedule an inspection.” She asked the commission to consider tabling the fee item or reducing what she called an administrative charge for owners who manage properties themselves.

County staff explained the larger package of changes before commissioners, saying the amendments include new beach-bonfire permits, penalties for short-term rental noncompliance and clarifications to resident parking guidelines. Staff asked for more time on the $100 modification fee but sought approval of the remaining fees at the meeting.

Fire and emergency-services staff defended fines as targeted at repeat “bad actors” who are preventing required life-safety inspections. “When there’s been an honest, good faith attempt to try to come in compliance, we’re not talking about, these fees applying to those individuals,” Emergency Services staff said. The department described cases in which properties were kept rented continuously so inspectors could not access units.

The county also described administrative and technology costs behind the fee proposal: a new permit tracking system, program staffing and reprinting of materials. Staff said the program has collected roughly $70,000 to date while costing the county “over half a million dollars” to operate, creating a substantial funding gap.

Commissioners discussed alternatives including a sliding scale by unit size or bedroom count and the possibility of lowering the fee for owners who promptly register and schedule inspections. Commissioner remarks favored passing the package while reducing the modification fee to avoid unduly penalizing owners who make simple administrative changes.

A motion that the board accept the fee schedule amendments with the single change lowering the registration modification managing-agent fee to $35 passed on a roll call vote: Commissioners Peace, Carroll, Crosby, Raffield and Chairman Moore recorded “yes.”

The board and staff also discussed implementation details: the county’s new Community Connect portal will be the channel for permits and notifications; applicants must pay before scheduling an inspection; and staff recently reorganized personnel to address previously missed applications. The county said anyone who made a good-faith compliance attempt and whose application was not processed would not be penalized.

Public-safety and operational questions were raised about inspections that cannot be completed while a unit is occupied and about how the county would verify changes in an emergency-contact or managing-agent name. Staff said the $35 change is intended to cover the county’s global administrative costs rather than the marginal time to record a single name change.

Votes and next steps: The fee-schedule amendment was approved with the $35 modification fee; staff said they will continue refining program procedures, pursue outreach (including public service announcements), and monitor revenue and compliance to adjust fees later if needed.

Minutes of the meeting show commissioners also asked staff to consider notifying property owners at sale or through local offices (property appraiser/tax collector) and to expand public outreach so new owners understand registration and bed-tax obligations.