Woodstock has passed a new fee structure for short-term rentals [STRs] designed to help full-time residents make ends meet. One member of the town board complained that the measure unfairly punished one type of landlord.
The permit fee for owner-occupied in-home rental is $250 per year for the first bedroom and $25 for additional rooms. For owner-occupied properties where the rental is in a separate unit, such as a cottage or above a garage, the fee is $350 for the first bedroom and $25 for additional rooms. Non-owner-occupied STRs must pay the town $450 per year for the first bedroom and $50 for additional rooms.
The previous fee was $450 for the first bedroom and $50 for additional rooms, with no differentiation for type of unit or owner presence.
“Why are we penalizing some people by asking for more and not giving one blanket rate of, say, $150?” asked councilmember Bennet Ratcliff.
“The original idea was to help members of our community who live in their homes, especially those on fixed income and who require that additional income in order to stay in the Town of Woodstock,” councilmember Anula Courtis explained at the annual organizational meeting on January 3.
“So what we wanted to do was to help those folks out and really put the extra additional bedroom cost and a higher base fee per year on those members who don’t live here who profit off of Woodstock,” she continued. “And yes, it’s a two-way street. We want visitors to come here and shop in our shops, but we don’t want to hurt people who live here who need that money to continue to stay in a town where everything’s getting more expensive.”
Ratcliff questioned why the annual fee for separate or accessory dwellings was $350.
“Those folks have a little bit more leeway in what they can charge, and that was the idea,” Courtis responded. “So they’re still getting a break from the original proposition that the whole town board voted on, and this was worked on with extensive input from the community.”
Councilmember and zoning revision committee chair Laura Ricci too saw a difference. The people opening their homes to strangers were community, she said. Those owners not on premises were operating a commodity.
“I very much appreciate the work a new law has done. I like this staging of the different rates, and I believe that this supports we want people who live here to help them stay here,” Ricci said.
Ratcliff saw a flaw in that argument. “I think that there are non-owner [occupied] people who have lived in this community for 50 years or more, and they also have an apartment that they live in somewhere else,” he said. “And I don’t understand why you would want to penalize somebody who’s been a member of the community for over 50 years. This is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.”
“It’s not mumbo-jumbo,” town supervisor Bill McKenna responded. “The fact is, the person with the non-owner-occupied house that they’re renting is making far greater income than the person who’s renting out a bedroom in their house. Everyone who came and spoke to us about the fees, they all talked about the inequity, and I believe that it’s true. There is an equity in what people are gaining financially and what they’re paying in the fees.”
Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law state senator Michelle Hinchey’s bill requiring STR owners to register with the state. The law will provide detailed monthly reports to municipalities on the number, type and locations of rentals. It also allows municipalities to collect sales and occupancy taxes.
It is too late for Woodstock to adopt a tax-based fee structure for 2025, but McKenna hopes the board will take action for 2026. “People will be paying a fee based on the income they’re making in a home,” McKenna said.
The new fee schedule passed 3-2, with Ratcliff and councilmember Maria-Elena Conte voting against it.
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