Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Short Term Rentals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Port Arthur picks vendor and staff plan to implement short-term rental ordinance
Summary
Council was told the new budget funded implementation of the city's short-term rental ordinance, staff selected vendor Granicus, and the city plans to hire a zoning inspector and use vendor modules for identification, tax collection and compliance outreach.
City staff told the Port Arthur City Council on Dec. 2 that the newly passed budget provides funding to implement a short-term rental ordinance approved earlier this year and that officials have selected a vendor to help with registration and enforcement.
A staff member said the council allocated funding in October and the administration plans to hire a zoning inspector to lead the effort. "We have selected Granicus as our short term rental vendor," the staff member said, describing Granicus modules for address identification and tax collection and a scoping meeting conducted last week.
Staff reported about 140 short-term rentals already registered in the city and said the vendor's system would support citizen tips to identify unregistered rentals and send letters to owners as the compliance process begins. Council members raised concerns about off-platform advertising and “bandit signs” that could let rentals fly under the radar; one member said she had taken screenshots of room-for-rent ads on Facebook and passed them to the city attorney for follow-up.
Officials said a contract with the vendor will be presented to the council for approval after internal scoping and preparation.
