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Board hears limits of TRT/short-term-rental tax data; state reporting tool may help
Summary
Board members and staff discussed challenges attributing TRT and sales-tax revenue collected by platforms like Airbnb/VRBO to specific properties within the Zion Mountain district, and staff said Utah's Granicus reporting tool could help map collections to local tax IDs.
Board and staff discussed at length how transient room tax (TRT) and sales-tax collections from short-term-rental platforms complicate revenue attribution for the Zion Mountain Local Service District.
One staff member said much of the money collected for the district is TRT and comes as lump-sum distributions from platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO that do not list specific property addresses. "We don't know if it comes from East Zion, if it comes from Kanab," the staff member said, noting platforms often provide only aggregated sums. A consultant added that many rentals are handled through platforms that have interlocal agreements with the state, which can obscure individual tax-ID reporting.
Staff suggested using the state's Granicus reporting program to search tax-ID numbers and payment histories. A county staff member said, "It actually allows you to search like our old software did... it does list the tax ID numbers, it does list the individuals and it does list how much they've paid." Staff offered to provide contact information so the Zion Mountain district could request or gain access to reports that would enable geo-mapping of platform-reported revenue.
