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Board approves amended transient‑occupancy tax ordinance to clarify short‑term rental reporting
Summary
Supervisors adopted an ordinance aligning Washington County reporting for transient‑occupancy taxes with recent General Assembly changes and adding an annual accommodations‑provider attestation to clarify whether owners or intermediaries (Airbnb/VRBO) remit tax. The measure passed unanimously with no public comment.
The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt an amended transient‑occupancy tax ordinance designed to clarify reporting by short‑term rental hosts and intermediaries.
A county presenter explained the amendment aligns local reporting with recent General Assembly changes and creates an "accommodations provider annual attestation" that requires owners to state whether they or an intermediary will report gross receipts. "If the accommodations are provided by me, I would check a box and I would only have to fill out that form one time a year," the presenter said, while noting intermediaries that collect rents (for example, Airbnb or VRBO) will have to remit tax monthly on or before the 20th.
The board held the required public hearing; no one spoke in favor or opposition. A supervisor moved to adopt the amended ordinance "to reflect current Virginia code changes," a motion seconded by Mr. Hargis and approved 5‑0.
County staff said the goal is to improve reporting accuracy so the county can identify individual rental properties and owners rather than receiving aggregated intermediary reports that lack parcel‑level detail.
