KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee is set to discuss two ordinances Wednesday related to short-term rentals in response to a city-wide audit released last year.
The two-part audit exposed the city’s inability to tax short-term rentals similar to hotels as well as the extremely low rate of registered rentals, 7%.
Voters will decide if the city can change the language to support taxing short-term rentals at a higher rate, which would only apply to units registered with the city.
Neighborhood leaders are most concerned with the number of rentals allowed in residential areas and the subsequent parties that have occurred.
“So that’s concerning to some residents who are already dealing with properties that are being used for parties and things that are not neighborhood friendly or even legal," said Southmoreland Neighborhood Association President Laura Burkhalter.
City Councilman Eric Bunch recently introduced two ordinances as a starting point.
Ordinance 230267
Ordinance 230268
If passed, the changes would require registration with the city and would move enforcement over to the neighborhood services division.
“Those two things are the biggest, I think, bang for the buck with this ordinance that will help get rid of most of the problems,” Bunch said.
If the ordinances continue to move forward, the short-term rental registration process could start as early as May 15. However, that date falls after the 2023 NFL Draft, meaning the city won’t capitalize on the thousands in town for the event.
“The timing is what it is,” Bunch said. “I wish we could get some of that revenue in, but the most important issue was to start to put the pieces in place to have a much better short-term rental policy.”
Burkhalter says until the new ordinances are in place, the city should stop allowing the short-term rental market to grow.
“We’re in a time crunch, for sure,” she said. “What we really need right away while we are fine-tuning this is we need a moratorium on new short-term rental permits.”
Wednesday's committee meeting is set for 1:30 p.m.
