Lewis County staff recommend opting into New York’s short‑term rental registry; public hearing set Dec. 18

Lewis County staff told the General Services Committee they recommend the county opt into New York State’s new short‑term rental registry and will present a revised local occupancy and registration law at a scheduled public hearing on Dec. 18.

Joan, a county staff member, and Eric, a county staff member, presented the proposal and walked the committee through new state requirements created under a change in the real property tax law (named in the presentation as section 447). Joan said the state registry requires units to register and carry minimum safety and record‑keeping elements, such as insurance, a fire extinguisher and an egress diagram. "The booking service is not supposed to assist anybody who is not registered," she said, describing how the state registry would affect platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO.

County staff said the registry is intended to capture properties that are currently unregistered and ensure operators pay occupancy tax. The treasurer’s office reported roughly 23 traditional lodging businesses and about 110 registered short‑term rentals in county records; staff estimated another 100 to 150 short‑term units are operating but not registered. The treasurer’s office provided annual occupancy‑tax collections in recent years of about $165,000 to $175,000 and reported $124,000 collected through August of the current year.

Staff explained two enforcement pathways: local enforcement under county law and supplementary enforcement from state agencies. "We are recommending that the county opt in," Eric said, adding that opting in would allow the county to share registry data with the state, towns and villages and to rely on state enforcement mechanisms such as attorney‑general involvement for penalties.

To manage registration, the county plans to transition from an Excel list to a commercial portal built by Deckard; staff said the Deckard system was recommended by NYSAC and that they expect to go live with the new registration portal in the coming weeks. When Deckard is active, staff said they will mail registration information to more than 100 properties the county believes are not yet registered.

The committee was told the state law also sets minimum safety and record‑keeping requirements and allows municipalities to require additional local compliance. Staff noted that if a town or village zoning code does not permit short‑term rentals, those units would not be eligible to register. The county’s revised local law will be published in advance of the Dec. 18 public hearing and can be amended during the introductory stage. Staff emphasized they do not yet plan to charge a registration fee at the county level, though a fee could be considered later to cover administrative costs.

Next steps: staff will finalize the revised local law for publication and present it at the Dec. 18 public hearing; the county will launch the Deckard portal and begin targeted mailings to properties the treasurer’s office believes are unregistered.