Port Arthur council approves short-term rental permit rules, raises consent threshold to $100,000; several resolutions pass

The Port Arthur City Council on Jan. 14 approved an ordinance requiring short‑term rentals to register with the city and pay local hotel occupancy tax, voted to raise the council's routine/nonroutine agenda threshold to $100,000, and approved a slate of resolutions and contracts including the city's participation in the Texas opioid settlement.

The short‑term rental ordinance (PO 7302) requires short‑term rental operators to obtain a city permit, register properties and pay the city's 7% local hotel occupancy tax. Tammy Couture, executive director of the Port Authority Business and Convention Bureau, told the council she tracked about 95 listings on Airbnb and VRBO in November and estimated the city could collect between roughly $100,000 and $200,000 a year in local occupancy tax if the rentals are actively used. "If you take all of these 95 . . . and you estimate a 70% occupancy, we would average about $200,000 in occupancy tax for the city," Couture said.

City staff explained an implementation plan that would include owner outreach, an online registration portal, coordination with platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO to pursue tax remittance agreements, and an enforcement approach that may use platform reports, third‑party scanning services and code enforcement. Staff…