Several Woodstock short-term rental owners protested a recent steep fee increase for permits. They complained they received no notice before getting new bills.
The fee increase was based on a series of recommendations from the town’s housing committee. The funding is intended to pay the costs of enforcement, which many complain is lacking. There were 197 illegal Woodstock STRs between 2020 and 2023.
The fee, originally $50 for the first bedroom and $25 for additional rooms, is now $400 per year plus $50 per additional bedroom.
The change eliminated the $250 permit for non-owner-occupied STRs. The fee is now the same for everyone.
The STR fee increases were passed unanimously at the January 9 organizational meeting of the town board in a bulk resolution. At the March 12 meeting of the town board, councilmember Bennet Ratcliff moved to rescind the fee increase and replace it with $100 per bedroom. His motion failed to get a second.
A private meeting with some STR owners was planned for this Monday, March 18.
“In December 2023, Ulster County alerted us to expect a two percent [county tax] fee increase, effective February 1,” said former ZBA member Laurel Cross, who opened a short-term rental with her husband to defray rising property tax bills.
“Contrastingly, the Town of Woodstock with no advance notice to its STR operators or the public increased our annual fees 1025 percent,” Cross said. “That’s my experience, equal to the same rate imposed by the City of Kingston for operators of 20-plus units. I’ve got one. They have 20. We’re paying the same.”
There was no difference in the fee between those living on-site or off-site, Cross noted. It’s the same whether one charges $100 or $1000 per night.
Cross has joined FairBnB, a group formed to challenge the drastic fee increases.
“We came to understand that it was enacted to cover code enforcement costs, such as inspections of those illegally registered searches for those not registered, and various responses like police for security alarms and noise complaints,” Cross said. “While it was the intention to bring the town’s fee schedule on par with other town or townships, this obviously was not the case.”
Marta Szabo said short-term-rental hosting was her main income.
“Without it, I would have to sell my home. If the town is in such dire need of cash, why not look into increasing penalties on those who are not abiding by the laws and ordinances of the town?” she said. “If you think that blasting your fellow townspeople with sudden, exorbitant fees is the right way to go, tell us your reasoning and invite public debate. Otherwise, taking the easy way out, you sow distrust, anger and resistance.”
Former housing committee member Urana Kinlen argued there had been a good reason for the fee increases.
“I’m now just a citizen here. But I also grew up here and watched our community change drastically in the last ten years. We are in an affordable housing crisis. We used to talk about this probably every meeting,” she said. “I spent five years researching and working on this specific issue. Short-term rentals aren’t the only reason we’re in this, but it’s a big chunk. It’s taking away [housing] stock, and we need stock across the country.”
She said it was unfortunate the STR owners did not get a letter in advance of the fee increase, but the fees had been low for quite a long time.
“Fifty dollars was like a freebie,” she said. It was kind of a gold rush.”
The new fee is partly based on a formula from Granicus, a data enforcement company the town is in the process of hiring. It scours online listings and cross-references them with tax records to determine compliance with the STR law.
Granicus recommends taking the median STR rental rate and multiplying it by two or three to determine the permit fee. In February, which is in the low season, the median rent was $273 per night. Twice that amount is $546.
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