Committee backs bill letting license collector collect Prop S short‑term rental fee

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis City Budget & Public Employees Committee voted Feb. 4 to report Board Bill 1-26 (committee substitute) out of committee with a do-pass recommendation, clearing a procedural step toward full council consideration.

Alderman Brenton Orion, sponsor of the bill, told committee members the measure’s sole purpose is to enable the city’s license collector to collect the fee voters approved on the 2024 ballot as Proposition S. "The one thing that this bill does is enable the license collector to collect the fee passed by the voters in 2024," Orion said during his presentation.

The bill does not change enforcement of short‑term rental regulations, Orion and committee members said. Vice Chair Browning asked whether the measure was "the fix we've been waiting for to start being able to enforce short term regulations again," and Orion replied that it is a separate matter: "This only has to do with the tax that was approved by the voter." Committee members noted a separate court case has paused the city’s regulatory regime for short‑term rentals, so regulatory enforcement remains on hold.

Members discussed how revenue would be allocated. A committee member referenced the bill’s text indicating 50% of fee revenue would go to the Community Development Agency (CDA) and 25% to an impacted tenants fund; the discussion also referenced prior committee updates that directed additional sources — including interest tied to the Rams settlement — to tenant support and right‑to‑counsel programs. Orion framed the fee as a limited measure to offset housing loss from short‑term rentals: "For every house that becomes a short term rental, that is a house that someone can't live in," he said.

Procedurally, the committee first adopted a committee substitute for Board Bill 1-26 after a motion and second; the roll call for that substitute showed three aye votes. Later, a committee member moved that the committee give the substitute a do‑pass recommendation; the final roll call recorded four aye votes and the bill was passed out of committee with a do‑pass recommendation.

There was no public testimony on the bill at the meeting. The committee adjourned following announcements.

The bill as discussed would allow the license collector to begin collecting the Prop S fee once the collection mechanism is in place; it does not by itself change the paused regulatory scheme for short‑term rentals. The committee’s action sends Board Bill 1‑26 to the next step in the council process for further consideration.