BRADENTON – West Manatee Fire Rescue’s board and staff are moving forward with beginning an annual inspection program for vacation rentals in the district that will reclassify the properties as commercial for fire district purposes.
Commissioners voted unanimously during an Aug. 15 meeting to move forward with the plans, despite some concerns stated by the public.
Under the new program, the district will assess vacation rental properties, also called transient public lodging establishments, as commercial properties, regardless of their zoning. District staff also will annually inspect these properties for life safety, looking for items such as fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguishers and proper egress from each bedroom in case of an emergency.
Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski said that after sending a letter in July to over 12,000 people in the district describing the new program, he said he’d received 12 written responses and 87 phone calls from the public, each one of which he said had been amicably resolved. A few more people stepped up during the public hearing to voice their concerns and questions about the new initiative.
One man said he only wanted to rent his property for one year. Kwiatkowski said that for the one year he rents the property, it will be assessed as a commercial property, however, when he stops renting the property, it will revert to a residential property in the eyes of the district and be assessed as such.
Kwiatkowski said the new assessment rate and inspections are allowed under the Florida Fire Code. Under the questioning of district attorney Maggie Mooney, he added that the district’s classification of properties does not affect those by any governing municipality and does not change property from residential to commercial for county or city property tax purposes.
Attorney Aaron Thomas stepped up to the mic, stating that he was representing the ownership of more than 500 rental properties in the district. Thomas said that he feels there is sufficient case law to argue against the district assessing vacation rental properties as commercial and suggested that his clients may seek legal action if the district pursues the change.
The district charges property owners a non-ad valorem assessment rate which appears on TRIM notices each fall. The rate consists of a base rate that is adjusted based on the size of the building on a property, not the value. On average, a commercial property owner, as defined by the district, will pay about $200-300 a year more than a residential owner, depending on the size of the structure.
