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Ohio bill would make platforms collect lodging tax, bar blanket bans on home sharing
Summary
Representative Pazuli told the House Development Committee that House Bill 109 would require platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo to collect and remit local lodging taxes, protect property owners from blanket municipal bans, and direct licensing and fees to support local enforcement.
Representative Pazuli presented House Bill 109 to the Ohio House Development Committee on 2025-12-05, saying the bill would require home‑sharing platforms to collect and remit local lodging tax and would prevent blanket municipal bans while preserving local authority to enforce safety, nuisance and tax rules.
Pazuli framed the bill as especially important to rural districts that lack hotel capacity: "We have way more active home sharing units than hotel beds now," she said, and added that short‑term rentals represent about 6% of Ohio's housing stock — "about 31,700 out of more than 5,000,000 housing units." The sponsor described HB 109 as a companion to Senate Bill 104 and said it would ensure fairness for hotels that already pay lodging taxes while returning revenue to local governments for tourism promotion, parks and infrastructure.
The bill also contains a smaller provision allowing the Ohio Real Estate Commission to issue real‑estate licenses electronically, Pazuli said. She warned members that the introduced language may be amended or replaced with a substitute as negotiations continue.
Committee members pressed for details on tax mechanics and local enforcement. Representative Siegrist asked whether 'lodging tax' and 'hotel tax' are the same; Pazuli replied they are and that rates vary by region. Representative Glassburn and others raised concerns about nuisance behavior, citing Cleveland‑area suburbs that effectively banned home sharing by strict limits. Pazuli said licensing fees and centralized collection would give municipalities resources to enforce rules and hold repeat offenders accountable.
The committee did not vote on HB 109 at the hearing. Members asked the sponsor to continue stakeholder negotiations and to provide more detail about proposed collection mechanics and any prospective lottery or limit systems for particularly constrained municipalities. The committee approved prior minutes and adjourned.
