The make-up of the working group was a point of contention among Rotorua Lakes councillors. Photo / Laura Smith
The make-up of the working group was a point of contention among Rotorua Lakes councillors. Photo / Laura Smith
Rotorua’s short-term accommodation providers including Airbnb and Bookabach hosts will soon be able to tell their council how a new additional targeted rate is impacting them.
Rotorua Lakes councillors on Wednesday voted to begin the process to recruit for a new Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) working party.
It attracted hundreds of submissions including from those who offer accommodation via platforms such as Airbnb, and the final decision was that whole-house rentals offered for more than 60 days a year would have the already-existing business and economic development targeted rate added to their bills.
The make-up of the working group was a point of contention among councillors.
Staff recommended it be comprised of six to eight community members plus the committee chair, currently deputy mayor Sandra Kai Fong.
This would be up to four from the short-term accommodation sector, up to two from hotels and motels, and up to two from tourism organisations.
Councillor Robert Lee was concerned the short-term accommodation sector would be the minority of the group, despite it having wanted the working group in the first place when the rate decision was made.
His attempt to increase the short-term accommodation representation to up to five failed.
Rotorua Lakes Councillor Conan O'Brien. Photo / Laura Smith
Councillor Conan O’Brien’s amendment, which succeeded, adjusted it to be three, along with one from hotels and motels and one from the tourism sector.
“I think we need to make sure we have the trust of the [short-term accommodation] sector to make sure they do feel this is an open and transparent process.”
He said refinement was needed to make that sector the “primary focus” but believed a smaller group would enable quicker work.
Councillor Don Paterson agreed with the 3-1-1 composition. He also believed any extra money generated by the rate should be funnelled to RotoruaNZ, particularly to what he viewed as an under-funded events budget.
Councillor Trevor Maxwell said he found the new composition “reasonable”.
Councillor Rawiri Waru, however, wondered how payments from other contributors of the rate compared to those with short-term accommodation.
“If we create a rōpū or group based on that logic it would look totally different.”
Lee said the red carpet should be rolled out for the short-term accommodation sector and would “love to have some persuasion” on why dropping to three would be good for it.
Councillor Gregg Brown said the composition did not provide enough flexibility, while mayor Tania Tapsell said the decision to recruit for the working group showed it listened to the community.
She encouraged people to apply so it had a diverse range.
The committee will approve members from a shortlist.
Chief executive Andrew Moraes said timing for the working group to report back to the committee was challenging but there will be one this year, although it would unlikely be complete.
Chief financial officer David Jensen said the council initially estimated 650 properties would be impacted by the rate change. This number dropped by 200 as owners proved it did not apply to them. Another 100 said they would change their offering so it would not apply.
The initial proposal to change short-term accommodation hosts of more than 60 nights from residential rates to commercial rates prompted the council to send 912 letters to potentially impacted ratepayers.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
