BILLINGS — The city of Billings is warning owners of short-term rentals they could face fines for failing to register their properties with the city.
Registration requires owners to comply with neighborhood and city public health and safety codes and includes a $355 annual fee.
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As of now, Billings Planning Division Manager Anna Vickers said that about 230 of the city's estimated 400 short-term rentals are not registered with the city. Vickers said those who aren't registered will receive a letter, requiring them to do so within 60 days, or else fines will be enforced by code enforcement.
"The intent of it is to provide public health and safety measures," Vickers said Tuesday morning, referencing 120 complaints about short-term rentals since 2021. "Some of (the complaints) are regarding noise and some of them are regarding concerns about covenant."
In 2021, the Billings City Council approved a requirement that all short-term rentals be registered. Vickers is giving those who aren't compliant the benefit of the doubt.
"There is a fair amount of people that don't get into the weeds of all the ordinances that are in the city and all of the different codes that exist," Vickers said. "I believe a lot of those who aren't registered are accidental."
Rental property owners don't disagree with the necessity of monitoring these short-term rentals.
"Anyone who owns a short-term rental should be 100% accountable," said short-term rental owner Kyle Stricklin. "I just don't necessarily agree with taking someone else's money and reallocating it."
Stricklin owns two short-term rental properties in Billings. While he has registered both, he said he doesn't agree with where the funds go.
"I don't have a problem with paying the fees," Stricklin said Tuesday afternoon. "I don't agree with taking short-term rentals money and creating two city jobs."
Vickers said the city would generate $142,000 if all 400 properties pay, which contributes toward paying the Planning Division employees. She said their fees are average compared to other cities around Montana.
"We have to cover our staff time for insuring regulatory compliance," Vickers said. "We wanted to keep it in the middle of what we've seen across the state."
Another Billings rental property owner, Scott Sery, said he believes the fees are a bit steep, citing the important role that short-term rentals play in the community.
"Billings generally has a hotel shortage," Sery said. "Any time there's a big event, everything is just completely filled up, so I don't know why the government would put these additional fees in that make it seem like they want people to move out of the industry."
Sery no longer runs a short-term rental, recently converting his property to a long-term one instead. He remains adamant that the charges aren't fair.
"The regulations aren't the issue," Sery said. "It's charging people merely for the sake of monetizing their own homes."
