Impact
WARD / COUNCILMEMBER: Ward / Citywide
$ IMPACT: N/A
Title
Approval of the adoption of fees for Short-term Rental Licenses and Wholesale Alcoholic Beverage Licenses.
Ward / Citywide
Body
ISSUE AND BACKGROUND:
Community Development has completed a year-end review of the department’s processes and fee schedule to ensure all processes are being implemented appropriately. During this review, staff identified the need to create fees for Short-term Rental Licenses and Wholesale Alcoholic Beverage Licenses, which currently do not have assigned fees. Community Development is recommending the adoption of fees for these licenses.
Short-term Rental License
The City Council recently adopted the Short-term Rental Ordinance on May 16, 2022 which became effective July 1, 2022. The adoption of the ordinance required operators of short-term rental units to obtain a short-term rental license and occupational tax certificate (business license). Staff has researched other municipalities and industry standards regarding the appropriate fees to charge for the license and found that most municipalities charge the median nightly rate for this area. The median nightly rate for the Smyrna area is $153 per night.
Community Development is recommending the fee for a Short-term Rental License be $150. This fee would be charged at the issuance of the license and then at the renewal of the license on a yearly basis.
This fee would be used to cover the cost of administration of the license, monitoring of the licenses and any code enforcement actions on the license.
Wholesale Alcoholic Beverage License
During the implementation of the OpenGov system, staff found that there had not been an adopted fee amount for the wholesale license. Community Development is recommending the following wholesale license fees:
• Beer - $600
• Wine - $600
• Liquor - $5,000
These proposed fees are consistent with the current fees charged for alcoholic package and pouring licenses under the Alcoholic Beverage License.
RECOMMENDATION / REQUESTED ACTION: Community Development recommends approval of the adoption the following fees:
• Short-term Rental License - $150
• Wholesale Alcoholic Beverage License:
o -Beer - $600
o -Wine - $600
o -Liquor - $5,000