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Board debates nightly‑rental fees and legal limits on using tourism taxes for housing
Summary
Members weighed raising nightly‑rental license fees and other local charges to fund housing but were warned some options—like using TRT funds—are constrained by state law and may require legislative action.
Board members discussed a series of revenue instruments tied to short‑term rentals and tourism, but staff warned that legal restrictions may limit options.
Several members suggested increasing the annual nightly‑rental business license fee or creating a small nightly‑rental tax that would generate recurring revenue for housing programs. "A 1% ID rental tax that all the people who are honest enough to go get a business license would have to pay, that would be nice," one board member said in arguing for a small recurring fee.
Staff and the county assessor cautioned that not all tourism‑related taxes are legally flexible: transient room tax (TRT) funds are governed by state rules that limit allowable uses, and using TRT for housing programs would likely require state legislative approval or a change in statute. County staff said TRT is not currently an approved funding source for housing in their interpretation of state code and advised caution. The board agreed this was an item for legal review and possible legislative outreach rather than an immediate revenue fix.
Members noted the county has new software and a code‑enforcement hire to better track nightly rentals, which could both help enforcement and make targeted fee collection more dependable if pursued.
