Common Ground profiles members of opposing parties who are working together to advance issues important to hoteliers
THE ISSUE
States across the country have a swath of unique tax codes, especially as they apply to lodging accommodations. When short-term rental (STR) platforms, synonymous with Airbnb and VRBO, entered the market, they were able to grow in many states without proper oversight from state, local, and county authorities. In recent years, many states and communities have passed regulations to provide oversight on STRs. In Nevada, STRs have proliferated and captured a significant market share.
Nevada does not levy a statewide lodging tax, leaving the jurisdiction for lodging accommodations and tax collection to county and city officials. House parties and illegal rentals hosted on STR platforms can negatively impact local communities, particularly in cities like Las Vegas. City and county authorities also have lacked proper means to impose lodging taxes and maintain comprehensive oversight over their community’s STR market.
COMMON GROUND
Aiming to stitch together a patchwork of county and city regulations, two bipartisan lawmakers in the Nevada State Assembly – Assemblymember Rochelle Nguyen (D-NV-10) and Assemblymember Tom Roberts (R-NV-13) – introduced Assembly Bill (A.B.) 363 in March 2020 to require local governments to collect lodging taxes in counties with more than 700,000 residents and in cities of 25,000 or more residents. The bill also establishes a minimum of two-nights stays in STRs, limited occupancy, permit limits for STR owners, and other regulations. The bill passed in the Assembly by a vote of 30 to 11 and in the Senate by a vote of 15 to 6. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed the bill into law on June 4 and takes effect on July 1, 2022.
*Quotes sourced from the Nevada Independent*
Assemblymember Rochelle Nguyen (D-NV-10), Sponsor of A.B. 363
“Right now, I suggest you look at your app for Airbnb or HomeAway or VRBO or any of the other types of apps, and you will see hundreds, if not thousands, of listings, most of them operating unlawfully. We are not collecting those taxes, we are not collecting that revenue, and so I believe that there does need to be parity in this situation.”
Assemblymember Tom Roberts (R-NV-13), Cosponsor of A.B. 363
“I know from my law enforcement time that [short-term rentals] and the bans that we have in Clark County provide a number of issues for neighborhoods throughout the valley, and our police officers don’t have the tools necessary to police those; neither do code enforcement.”
