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Vacation rental bill transmitted to DeSantis

Vacation rental bill transmitted to DeSantis

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Business, Featured, Real estate | Development.

TALLAHASSEE – The fate of the Florida Legislature’s latest attempt to reserve the regulation of vacation rentals to the state lies in the hands of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

On June 17, DeSantis received the vacation rental preemption bill proposed by the Florida Legislature in the form of Senate Bill 280 and its matching House bill.

The proposed legislation seeks to assign vacation rental regulation and vacation rental advertising regulation to the state and take those regulatory rights away from local city and county governments.

As of June 23, DeSantis had not yet signed the bill into law or vetoed it. He also has the option to allow the bill to become a new state law without his signature.

As part of its ongoing efforts to maintain the right to regulate short-term vacation rentals and advertising at the local level, the city of Anna Maria immediately initiated an opposition campaign directed at the governor.

The campaign uses the city-owned Home Rule Florida website which has more than 2,000 subscribers statewide. On June 17, Home Rule Florida issued an email to subscribers encouraging them to express their opposition to the proposed legislation by emailing DeSantis or calling his office.

The June 17 Home Rule Florida email said, “Vacation rental bill SB 280 is on the governor’s desk. Now is the time to let Gov. DeSantis know how this bill can destroy our delicate coastal communities. Ask him to veto SB 280.”

The email also said, “Lend your voice in asking our governor to carefully consider the implications of this bill and not try to fix something that’s not broken. The elimination of occupancy limitations can cripple the infrastructure of some of our coastal communities. The actual population of people residing in these coastal communities can increase by up to 35% overnight, hampering law enforcement, sewer and water resources, as well as creating traffic congestion and impacting public safety. The required and exclusive methods set out in the bill for enforcement make enforcement of those standards virtually impossible.”

The email also addresses the carve-out exemption that would allow Flagler County to continue regulating short-term vacation rentals at the county level.

“There is a carve-out for one county. No one seems to be able to explain why Flagler County was the only county in Florida to be exempted from this draconian piece of legislation. No need exists for this legislation. Cities and counties do not need new enforcement means and restrictions only applicable to enforcement against vacation rentals since the current enforcement methods available under current Florida law are certainly sufficient,” the email said.

Additional Home Rule Florida emails were distributed on June 18, 19 and 21.

When contacted on June 22, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said, “Our lobbyist is very optimistic that he (DeSantis) will veto the bill but we need to keep the pressure on. If he signs it or doesn’t sign it and it becomes state law, we are weighing our options on what our next move will be. The Flagler carve-out seems to hit a raw nerve with the governor’s staff and we have been emphasizing that in the campaigns we’ve run so far. In just one week, our campaigns generated over 2,000 letters (emails) and numerous phone calls opposing SB 280. I know our message is hitting home with the governor’s office and I’m hoping this ‘pork chop’ piece of legislation fails.”

Mayor optimistic about vacation rental bill’s fate

Mayor optimistic about vacation rental bill’s fate

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – Mayor Dan Murphy is growing increasingly confident that the Florida Legislature’s latest attempt to preempt vacation rental regulation to the state will once again fail.

Proposed and supported by the Florida Legislature earlier this year, Senate Bill 280 and its matching companion bill, House Bill 1537, seek to take short-term vacation rental regulation and the regulation of short-term rental advertising away from Florida cities and counties and place that authority solely with the state.

Sen Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) and State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. (R-Bradenton) are among the many state legislators who voted in favor of the proposed legislation.

To become new state law, the proposed legislation must be transmitted to Gov. Ron DeSantis. If the governor supports the legislation, he can sign it into new state law effective July 1 or allow it to become new state law without his signature of support. He can also kill the proposed legislation by vetoing it.

“The bill has not been placed on the governor’s desk,” Murphy told the Anna Maria City Commission on May 23.

Murphy said he and the city’s contracted lobbyist have no idea if or when the proposed vacation rental regulation will ever be transmitted to the Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“The good news is the governor’s staff has a multitude of concerns about the bill itself, starting with some of the input we gave them,” Murphy said.

The proposed state legislation would eliminate Anna Maria’s existing short-term vacation rental occupancy limits and replace them with more generous occupancy limits that would be virtually impossible for the city to enforce.

The city input the mayor referenced pertains to Anna Maria’s vacation rental guest population quickly increasing by an estimated 32% if the city’s occupancy limits are eliminated, which the mayor said would further strain the city’s already-strained infrastructure systems.

Murphy said DeSantis’ staff also has political concerns about the legislation, including a carve-out exemption for Flagler County, the home of Speaker of the House Paul Renner. The proposed carve-out would create a grandfathering exemption for Flagler County’s current vacation rental regulations.

“They’ve got a list of concerns. When I get the word that it’s headed to the governor’s desk – and we should get at least a day or two of advance notice – we’ll crank up HomeRuleFl.com to bombard letters to the governor for a veto,” Murphy said.

“We’re in a very good spot. That’s what our lobbyist said, but it’ll be back next year. It’s not going to go away. This is going to be a continual struggle,” Murphy cautioned.

When asked, the mayor and city attorney said they didn’t know when the deadline is to transmit bills to the governor.

Vacation rental bills advancing

Vacation rental bills advancing

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News, Featured.

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Legislature’s efforts to preempt vacation rental regulation to the state took a significant step forward when the Florida Senate passed Senate Bill 280 on Feb. 1.

After previously passing through two Senate committees, the bill passed the full Senate 27-13.

If enacted as state law, the proposed legislation would further limit the ability of Florida cities, towns and counties to regulate vacation rentals and vacation rental advertising at the local level.

The preemption of vacation rental regulation to the state would impact all three Anna Maria Island cities to varying degrees.

Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) and Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) were among the 27 senators who supported the bill, originally introduced by Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg). Ten Democrats opposed SB 280, joined by three Republicans.

Vacation rental bills advancing
Sen. Nick DiCeglie introduced SB 280. – www.FlSenate.gov | Submitted

Originally introduced by State Rep. Philip Griffitts Jr. (R-St. Petersburg), the House companion bill, HB 1537, successfully passed through the House Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee on Feb. 1 by a 10-4 vote. State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. (R-Bradenton) supported the bill.

Vacation rental bills advancing
State Rep. Philip Griffitts Jr. introduced HB 1537. – www.MyFloridaHouse.gov | Submitted

If HB 1537 successfully passes through the Ways & Means Committee and the Commerce Committee, it will then be brought to the House floor for a vote by the entire House before the 60-day legislative session ends on March 8.

In order to become state law, matching Senate and House bills must be adopted by the two governing bodies. If the final versions of the two bills are not identical, the legislation fails. If the identical bills are passed by their respective bodies, the legislation will be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign into law, to approve without signing or to veto.

As of Feb. 2, the Senate and House bills were not identical matching bills. The Senate-approved version of SB 280 contains two-plus-two occupancy limits not yet included in HB 1537.

The adopted Senate bill states the vacation rental owner or operator must “State and comply with the maximum overnight occupancy of the vacation rental which does not exceed either two persons per bedroom, plus an additional two persons in one common area; or more than two persons per bedroom if there is at least 50 square feet per person, plus an additional two persons in one common area, whichever is greater.”

As of Feb. 2, the House bill simply said the vacation rental owner/operator must “State the maximum occupancy of the vacation rental based on the number of sleeping accommodations for persons staying overnight in the vacation rental.”

Fees and taxes

The Legislature’s efforts to preempt vacation rental regulation to the state are partially driven by a stated desire to better address the collection of vacation rental registration and licensing fees and the collection of taxes levied on transient public lodging entities, including those on the Airbnb and VRBO advertising and rental platforms.

Several Florida counties levy tourist or resort taxes on short-term lodging stays. Manatee County levies a 5% tourist development tax on short-term lodging stays.

SB 280 and HB 1537 address at great length vacation rental advertising/rental platforms and the collection of fees and taxes.

In January, the independent, non-partisan Florida TaxWatch organization published a 16-page report titled, “The Impact of Unlicensed Vacation Rentals on Florida’s Economy.”

“In November 2023, an average day had an estimated minimum of 25,457 unlicensed vacation rentals with available listings, which is 19% of all available listings for that month,” the report says.

The report estimated Florida had an estimated minimum of 49,280 unlicensed vacation rental properties at that time.

“Tax evasion by unlicensed vacation rentals worsens the tax burden on dutiful, taxpaying residents and businesses,” the report says. “The loss of registration costs, required once per year, would be between $1.8 million and $6.9 million. If the unlicensed vacation rentals continued to operate in the years to follow, the state would see a loss of licensing fees between $1.2 million and $5.5 million. Collectively, local communities can lose up to $32,000 in local option transient taxes within a single day. If the unlicensed vacation rentals filed for a homestead exemption in the absence of permanent residency, up to $21.3 million in property taxes could be lost to fraud.”

Anna Maria concerns

During the Jan. 25 Anna Maria City Commission meeting, City Attorney Becky Vose voiced her concerns.

She said the Senate bill would still allow the city to inspect vacation rentals during the initial registration process but would not allow follow-up inspections in future years. She noted the annual inspections help identify violations and non-compliance issues that arise after the initial inspection takes place.

Regarding the city’s annual inspection fees, Vose said, “It would cap the initial application fee at $150 and cap all subsequent renewal fees at $50, which would transfer the bulk of the cost of regulation and registration of vacation rentals to the taxpayers of the city, which is totally unfair.”

Anna Maria imposes an occupancy-based annual registration fee established each year by a city-approved city resolution. The fee is based on the estimated cost of administering, regulating and enforcing the city’s vacation rental ordinance. The fee is $84.17 per allowed occupant, according to the city’s vacation rental ordinance. The fee for the owner of a two-bedroom vacation rental permitted to have two guests per bedroom plus two additional guests is $505. The annual fee for a 12-occupant vacation rental is $1,010 and the annual fee for a 16-occupant vacation rental is $1,346.

Vose also expressed concerns about the state’s ability to enforce the vacation rental regulations as a whole.

Mayor Dan Murphy recently said capping registration fees would significantly impact the city’s ability to regulate vacation rentals. During past discussions, he said the city’s enforcement of online vacation rental advertising is the city’s only means to regulate vacation rental occupancy. The city doesn’t have the authority to enter vacation rentals to count occupants.

Commission Chair Mark Short encourages concerned citizens to visit the Home Rule Florida website, www.HomeRuleFl.com, to express their opinions to state legislators.

Holmes Beach logo

Commissioners oppose bill, hire new lobbyist

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – City leaders are hoping to reinforce their position in the battle against state politicians infringing on the city’s home rule.

During a Jan. 11 meeting, commissioners agreed to draft a letter opposing Florida Senate Bill 280, which would take away local municipalities’ ability to regulate vacation rentals and give the sole rights to the state.

Local regulations that would be removed if the bill passes the state Legislature and earns the approval of Gov. Ron DeSantis include the Holmes Beach vacation rental ordinance, all locally-enforced vacation rental safety regulations – including those mandated by West Manatee Fire Rescue under the Florida State Fire Code – and all local occupancy requirements.

While the bill mandates occupancy by the number of sleeping areas in a rental, City Attorney Erica Augello said it doesn’t specify that those sleeping areas be bedrooms, as required by the Holmes Beach vacation rental ordinance, which specifies two people per bedroom or six per unit, whichever is greater, is maximum occupancy.

Augello said she feels the bill is well-written enough that it may have a better chance of passing where vacation rental pre-emption bills have failed at the state level in the past.

Commissioners also decided to enter into an agreement with Sunrise Consulting Group for legislative consulting services at a cost of $4,500 per month.

Rather than replacing the city’s current lobbyist firm in Tallahassee, Mayor Judy Titsworth said the city’s team at Sunrise would work with the city’s lobbyist at the state level. One of their main tasks, she said, would be to represent the city’s interests at the local level with Manatee County representatives for project funding and other issues affecting the city.

Anna Maria officials oppose rental bill

Anna Maria officials oppose rental bill

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy traveled to Tallahassee last week to express the city’s opposition to Senate Bill 714.

SB 714 is the Florida Legislature’s most recent move to further limit local government’s ability to regulate short-term vacation rentals, giving more authority to the state. House Bill 883 serves as the companion bill. Both pieces of proposed legislation are currently working their way through various Senate and House committee stops. If SB 714 and HB 883 successfully pass through their respective committee stops, they would then be placed before both houses of the Legislature for final votes. If the Senate and House both adopt similar bills, the legislation will be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign into new state law or veto.

Murphy arrived in Tallahassee on Wednesday and returned to Anna Maria on Friday. While in Tallahassee, he hand-delivered to key state legislators copies of the city resolution the Anna Maria City Commission adopted on March 9. The resolution expresses the mayor and commission’s opposition to taking away the city’s ability to regulate short-term vacation rentals at the local level.

When discussing SB 714 on March 9, Murphy said, “The only people this benefits is Airbnb and Vrbo. They’re the ones pushing this. Airbnb and Vrbo would like nobody between them and the person renting the house: No realtor, no government agency, no city. Everything’s mechanized and there’s no need for any humans to be involved. That’s what this is all about.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Murphy sent an email update to city commissioners that noted SB 714 successfully passed through the Senate’s Regulated Industries Committee the previous day.

“An amendment was added during that meeting which clarifies fees and tax liability, none of which helps our cause of killing this bill,” Murphy stated in email.

“The good news is that our website (www.homerulefl.com) generated over 2,500 emails to senators on that committee, all speaking out in opposition to SB 714. What’s more, we added 250 new subscribers to our website and our distribution list. We are now very much a statewide website with subscribers throughout the state. We will continue to track SB 714 as it goes to its next two committees in the Senate and we will have campaigns ready to address the bill,” Murphy wrote.

On Saturday, Murphy provided The Sun with more details about his trip.

“I was able to meet the president of the Senate, Kathleen Passidomo, and I left her a copy of our resolution. I also discussed the pitfalls of this pending legislation, including taking away our right to limit the occupancy of vacation rentals,” Murphy said.

“I met with the bill’s sponsor (Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg) and told him our concerns about ‘party houses’ and the catastrophic impact this bill will have on our Island community. Later, I met with Sen. Jim Boyd and State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. to discuss our concerns. My final meetings were with the House speaker’s office and the chairperson of the Commerce Committee, State Rep. Bob Rommel,” Murphy said.
“As an Island community, we need to bombard the Legislature with our concerns through phone calls and emails. We can utilize the HomeRuleFL.com website to send instant emails to the legislators as the bill moves through the House and the Senate. We are at a very serious and critical crossroads with this bill. Failure to speak up now could have long-term negative implications on our quality of life on Anna Maria Island,” Murphy said.

Vacation rental bills appear to be dead

Vacation rental bills appear to be dead

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Business, Featured, Tourism.

TALLAHASSEE – Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and City Commission Chair Carol Carter flew to Tallahassee Monday morning, March 2, planning to address the Florida Senate Rules Committee regarding proposed vacation rental legislation.

Murphy and Carter planned to speak about Senate Bill 1128, a bill originally filed by Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Miami/Dade, in an attempt to preempt to the state all regulation of short-term vacation rentals and vacation rental advertising.

The House companion bill, HB 1011, co-sponsored by Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Mike LaRosa, R-St. Cloud, aligned with Diaz’s efforts to also require all vacation rentals advertised at online advertising platforms like Airbnb and VRBO to be registered with the state.

If adopted as proposed, that state legislation would eliminate the local vacation rental regulations and registration programs that currently exist in Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach.

The House bill already successfully passed through its three committee stops and was awaiting potential advancement to the House floor for a final vote.

The Senate bill passed through two committee stops and was scheduled to make its third and final committee stop with the Rules Committee on Monday.

Legislation derailed?

Upon their arrival Monday morning, Murphy and Carter learned from the city’s lobbyist, Chip Case, that Sen. David Simmons, R-Longwood, filed a proposed amendment that morning that sought to protect the local vacation rental ordinances and regulations already in place.

Murphy, Carter and Case were present when the Rules Committee meeting began at noon.

To their surprise, the anticipated discussion on SB 1128 was postponed with no explanation after the committee held a short opening discussion about a shark fin harvesting prohibition.

When contacted at 12:17 p.m., Murphy said, “This means they don’t intend to hear the bill today, but they could bring it back up before 6 p.m. We’re sitting tight lest they try to sneak this in.”

A short time later, Murphy said Case and others were trying to figure out if the postponement meant the Senate bill and this year’s legislative efforts regarding vacation rentals were dead.

At 12:56 p.m., Murphy said, “It appears to be dead. Today provides brief relief in defending our rights to home rule, but it’s too soon to let our guard down.”

At 4:15 p.m., Murphy said, “They could have another meeting on Thursday and put that legislation back on the docket. We don’t think that’s probable, but it’s possible. Our lobbyist is on top of it and he’ll let us know what happens. If it’s not on Thursday’s agenda, it’s not likely to be heard,” Murphy said.

The 2020 legislative session is scheduled to end on Friday, March 13 and committee meetings are expected to conclude this week.

Murphy said he and Carter were headed home Monday night and would return Thursday if needed, and if given enough advance notice.

“They could schedule the meeting with four hours’ notice, which would preclude our participation, but our lobbyist would be there. It’s a wait and see situation,” Murphy said.

At 4:33 p.m. Bradenton Beach City Attorney Ricinda Perry received a text message from Bradenton Beach’s lobbyist, David Ramba.

“It looks dead as of today,” Ramba told Perry regarding SB 1128.

Governor’s concerns

To become state law, matching Senate and House bills must be adopted by their respective legislative branches and then supported and signed by the Florida Governor.

On Feb. 24, Gov. Ron DeSantis was interviewed by Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida and asked about preempting vacation rental regulations to the state.

According to the video of that interview, DeSantis said, “I haven’t made a final decision. I’ve expressed privately to some members of the legislature I have concerns about that. We’re going to be in charge of this as a state? For us to be micro-managing vacation rentals, I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do. My view would be, probably, that should be determined locally. That’s where I’m leaning now. I’m going to listen to some more arguments if the bill passes, but I do have some concerns about that.”

Rep. Jim Boyd

Florida House passes rental bill

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida House has adopted HB 425 by a 63-56 vote.

The vacation rental bill championed by Mike La Rosa (R-St. Cloud) seeks to end the local regulation of vacation rentals by mandating that all local ordinances and regulations must apply equally to all residential properties, whether they are used as short-term rentals or permanent residences.

On Thursday, April 27, the House members rejected by a 37-78 vote an amendment filed by Rep. George Moraitis (R-Ft. Lauderdale) that would have allowed cities to continue regulating rentals.

Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton), the Island’s elected representative, voted against the amendment on Thursday and in favor of the un-amended bill on Friday. During Thursday’s session, Boyd described the local vacation rental ordinances he was aware of as “draconian.”

The question that remained at the beginning of this week was whether the Senate would adopt the now city-friendly, committee-amended version of the vacation rental bill, SB 188, originally filed by Greg Steube (R-Sarasota). As of Monday morning, SB 188 had not yet been scheduled for a second reading that could lead to an amendment or a third reading and final vote.

Many elected officials and Island residents expressed concerns that the amended Senate bill that passed through committee would be amended by the entire Senate in a manner that brought it back in line with the House’s intent to eliminate city’s home rule authorities to regulate vacation rentals.

If such an amendment was proposed and supported by the Senate majority, the three Island cities would essentially lose the ability to regulate vacation rentals. Enacting HB 425 as law would allow for rental registration programs, but no registration fees could be charged and the registration programs would be for informational purposes only, with no accompanying enforcement component.

If the Senate bill were to be adopted as it read Monday morning, the two bills would be drastically different and would need to be reconciled with via last-minute House/Senate compromise – or the contrasting bills would die and the regulatory balance struck in 2014 would be retained for at least one more year.

The legislative session is scheduled to end Friday. If so, Island residents, property owners and elected officials will know the fate of the two vacation rental bills on or before Cinco de Mayo.