Ruidoso zeroes in on short-term rentals

• Village is using GIS to pinpoint short-term rental sites

As part of an effort to track short-term rentals the Ruidoso Village Council approved amendments which include fee increases and amended rules.

Community Development Director Tim Dodge said a March 11 report indicated 977 unique properties being advertised within the village’s jurisdiction.

“We are able to identify about 85 percent of those through (a geographic information system),” he said. “Out of those, we have 579 that are in compliance, we have confirmed. Last month, the number was 408. Host Compliance (a software program) is working for us and helping us bring them into compliance.”

The full implementation of Host Compliance was scheduled to go live March 17, incorporating changes approved by the council. All applications will be handled online and lodgers tax payments collected online using the Host Compliance software, Dodge said.

Because of the large number of short-term rentals, the department has worked with Host Compliance to simplify the process for property managers, he told councilors.

Dodge reported the department found 2,025 website listings on third-party platforms such as AirBnB, the only one with which the village already has an agreement for collection of lodgers tax.

Dodge noted that 242 rental units listed were not verified as permitted by the village, with another 200 actively under review.

More:Agreement with Airbnb aimed at ensuring lodgers tax collection

“I’ve reported on some of the struggles that other communities in the state have had,” he said. “When I first came onboard, Taos had just purchased Host Compliance and I monitored what they were doing. They had one planner working with them trying to get people into compliance. In six months, they only were able to achieve 200 properties into compliance. We have achieved over 500 in a shorter period. I think a lot of that is that in Ruidoso. We have engaged the property managers who have worked with us to help us identify their properties and other properties that they are managing to make sure we are bringing them into compliance. I think it has been a good partnership.”

Before the meeting, the village planning commission and the workforce housing advisory board reviewed and recommended the proposed amendments, he said.

The changes from Dodge included amending the permitting process from three years to an annually. 

“There is just way too much activity or changes that occur in a three-year period to really manage that,” he said.

The permit will be $50 per year instead of $90 every three years. He handed out a cost analysis to show the cost of doing business for short-term rentals as justification for his recommendations. A $10 transfer fee also was approved to allow a property owner to switch his coverage from one entity to another or to take over management.

Dodge said the fee was placed at a level only to cover the cost of service, because he did not want to penalize someone who just may not be satisfied with a property manager’s service.

More:Ruidoso emphasizes compliance for nightly rentals

Dodge had proposed that a safety inspection fee, a term altered to compliance inspection during the meeting at the suggestion of Councilor Tim Coughlin, would not be applied if an owner was doing business with a property manager. If an owner was managing, that person would pay for certification showing that the village inspected the property.

The fee is $40 for every two years and in the motion at Coughlin’s suggestion will apply to all short-term rental properties.

The council agreed with Dodge’s requirement that the notification distance be consistent with other planning and zoning issues.

“Using property managers, notifications are occurring and we’re not getting any complaints,” Dodge said. “Those we do receive come from property owners doing business on their own. We recommend notification be consistent with planning and zoning, a 200-foot radius as opposed to just adjacent properties."

Based on an opinion from the New Mexico Municipal League, part of the changes inlcude the requirement that anyone managing a property should obtain a Ruidoso business registration and state CRS (Combined Reporting System) tax collection number.

“If they are using a property manager, that manager collects the tax and no additional registration is required,” he said. “One license is all that is needed whether the owner has one or 10 properties.”

The fee is $35 annually.

Councilors adopted Coughlin’s friendly amendment to increase the mailing fee from $20 to $25, and to change wording on the application to encourage owners to purchase insurance. He argued that if the council required insurance, in fairness, it would have to do the same for all businesses.

Although no action could be taken, Coughlin said he has “major heartburn” that short-term rentals aren’t subject to a gross receipts tax.

“Taxation and revenue has a similar case where short-term rental is considered similar to a hotel or motel, which makes it eligible for GRT,” he said.