Albany County committee backs applying occupancy tax to short-term rentals; registry, audits planned

Albany County's Law Committee held a public hearing and subsequently approved introduction of proposed Local Law K to apply the county's 6.5% occupancy tax to short-term rentals and require a registry and quarterly reporting.

Jeff Neil, identified in the record as director of the Division of Finance, explained the change would close a perceived fairness gap between hotels and short-term rental hosts and bring short-term rentals under the same 6.5% rate. He said the change targets stays under 30 days; longer stays are excluded. Neil estimated the registry vendor (Decard Technologies) will identify roughly 250 locations at the outset, and the registry will support auditing and public information on how many units are used as short‑term rentals.

Legislators pressed staff on whether accessory dwelling units and occasional, informal rentals would be carved out; staff said exemptions based on owner circumstance would be difficult to define under the state definition and that the easiest compliance route for small hosts would be to rent longer than 30 days. Staff noted municipalities will receive quarterly "no rental" reporting capability for registered locations and that outreach and coaching will be used to bring hosts into compliance before enforcement.

A motion to proceed passed by voice vote. The committee did not record a detailed roll-call tally in the transcript. The proposal will proceed consistent with public hearing outcomes and the county registry implementation plan.