To the editor:
Short term rentals create and destroy value. Those affected include permanent residents, long term tenants, and the county. The accounting is not simple, but the issues are clear.
I look at the issues from several decades as a real estate appraiser, a frequent expert witness on values, and instructor on valuation for the World Bank.
Using a residence as a short-term rental certainly increases the value of that property. (Ask yourself: as an investor do I prefer a short-term rental that brings in $25,000 a year or a long-term rental at $15,000 a year?)
But short-term rentals also decrease the value of the adjoining property dedicated to owner or long-term tenant occupancy. (Ask yourself: given the choice of buying a home among short-term rentals or in an entirely residential neighborhood, what would you choose?)
By decreasing housing available for permanent residents, short-term rentals inflate values. The inflated housing values, of course, mean more revenue for the county. And, as values inflate, it means a greater burden on homeowners, especially the elderly.
While short-term rentals increase tax revenues, no one has adequately calculated the costs to the county or the loss of value to nearby homeowners. Costs to the county include policing, enforcing the regulations, garbage and sewage, and accommodating traffic.
Tourism does bring jobs, but we have not yet estimated what those mostly low wage earners cost the county in services and schools.
Supporters of short-term rentals cite benefits but not costs. They cite a former Lincoln County commissioner who touted himself as “the money man.” But as a commissioner, whether the issue was spending for job creation or the proposed County Commons, he didn’t count costs — a “money in” man, not a “money out” man. Our commissioners should calculate both.
The costs and revenues listed above can be expressed in dollars. But certainly, the commissioners, as representatives of the citizens, should consider values that appraisers and accountants do not quantify.
Calculating neighborhood quality and personal values is difficult, but in fact, we do have a value measure of this issue. That value was expressed in the 58 percent to 42 percent vote last November to phase out short-term rentals.
— Wallace Kaufman/Newport
There should be an additional tax levied on vacation rentals to offset that profit margin. They should be taxed a higher level of property tax for not being owner occupied nor providing housing and they should be taxed on the money they make off renting short term. Taking the profit out of it would make long term rentals more competitive. There needs to be tax breaks for owner occupied homes belonging to lower fixed income seniors and disabled residents.
The problem with increasing taxes is that it provides an incentive for the locality to encourage even more vacation rentals.
Another solution might be to equalize the rental income between short and long term rentals, imposing rent control that’s prorated to a daily rental rate. Take away the tremendous profit incentive and the only vacation rentals would be those who are telling the truth when they say they are only doing it because they want to help the local economy, because they love meeting new people, and because they are just trying to earn a little extra money.