Despite a staff report to the contrary Belleville Council wants to move forward with looking at ways to potentially regulate and license short term accommodations in the city.
The Economic and Destination Development Committee had recently approved a report from Economic Development Manager Karen Poste, which noted that the city only had about 150 STAs operating in the city and that the process to regulate those businesses would be cumbersome and expensive.
But Mayor Mitch Panciuk told council that STAs are having a negative impact on the city and contributing to the housing crisis, and suggested moving ahead the licensing anyway.
All councillors did agree that the city needs to start collecting the 4% municipal accommodation tax from STAs, with a report on the ways to best do that and a potential framework for licensing set to come back to the table next month.
EDDC Chair Councillor Sean Kelly asked Poste if a January 1, 2022 deadline would be feasible to start collecting the MAT, with Poste saying that the date could work as long as a system is in place.
Some councillors had asked about having the province mandate that STA host sites like AirBnB, VRBO and others collect the MAT on behalf of municipalities, but Mayor Panciuk told council he didn’t think the province would.
