Hi there, has anyone encountered this? I just received an “additional water/sewage bill for the month of July from my town.” I pay a yearly -4 bills flat rate water bill for my house each year and somehow they found out, 1. I opened an airbnb (which I didn’t until August of this year) so wrongly charged me for the month of July. And I am only open for another month or 2 before I shut down for the year. (I imagine they’ll keep sending them to me)without asking about this. And in addition- I have a very small airbnb for a couple or single- and half the month of August was vacant- so probably used less than normal. I am pretty pissed about this so going into talk to the town but don’t anticipate them backing down. Not only do I pay a hefty fee on each booking to the gov’t. -now this? My small town was dying for lack of business- so you would think they would welcome my little business- bringing tourists to visit. Now the guy across the street runs an airbnb fulltime all year with 3 bedrooms -so groups of 5-6 all the time. I bet you he gets the same bill as me.
So are you saying that you were paying residential rates but now that the town has discovered that you have a commercial enterprise they are saying that the residential status no longer applies? I think you are.
Somewhere here there is someone who complained that their real estate tax bill went up for a similar reason.
There are unexpected consequences to running an STR business, whose main asset is your home that receives all kinds of favorable treatment because it is a residence for the owner. Municipalities and STR owners are slowly becoming aware of these consequences.
The laws understandably didn’t contemplate the STR business, which many of us might think of as unique, especially in home share type situations, where the property is both a primary residence AND a commercial enterprise.
More STR owners who rent out some portion of their home might benefit from getting together to inform local lawmakers of their unique situation and the benefits they bring to the community, and to distinguish home share type STR owners from the pure commercial STR owners.
Somewhat related:
Right on point! I think this is just the kind of thing that will happen more and more, and understandably so.
If I owned a B&B I would think it unfair that I pay higher rates and are subject to more onerous rules than the Airbnb homeowner. But I also think as an Airbnb owner whose STR income is significant to me but not in the larger scheme of things that I am not in the same situation as that B&B owner. I don’t know the answer but I think we’ll need legislation to sort this out and make it fair both for the Bed and Breakfast owner and the Airbnb homeowner renting out part of their home.
Yes I think you are right it might be worthwhile to approach the mayor
too perhaps who has said repeatedly he’s trying to bring business to
our town (that went downhill after the mill closed)…
The lady at city hall was not very nice either- she informed me that I
no longer pay residential but commercial rates- and I told her I
didn’t even open in July but you billed me and so she pro-rated it but
said she might not always be able to do that (“we don’t have time to
keep adjusting)…” I said how did you even know I was open “Oh I
check on airbnb”- when I told her I opened in August- she said “I will
check that”- which got my gander up… as if I was lying.
Then she said “we could have fined you- you have to inform the city if
you have a business out of your home.”…
So all in all- an aggravating encounter. And before they try to raise
my property taxes or something- you are right- it might be worthwhile
to mention and get a group together…
thanks for the tips.
my city of the Gold Coast has a hilarious ready reckoner chart of fees to be paid, based on how you rent out your property. it’s a tourist town and the council aren’t shy about milking that. We bought our home in a company name, and so we too have to pay the highest fees, i did try to object but NO, GC council needs the $$$$$ . meanwhile my local “dog park” is unfenced and doesn’t even supply free doggie bags, but has 20+ signs telling me i’ll get a fine if my dog is caught on the walking path unleashed. the fine… $650.
It’s def worth going to your local council meetings!
That’s a shame you weren’t honest with them about when you set up and closed down your STR business. That would have avoided you being charged incorrectly. @Letsgo
What are you talking about I wasn’t honest about what?
They charged me for the month of July when I wasn’t open?
I wasn’t dishonest about anything- what a hostile thing to say.
I think this is what Helsi is referring to. In other words, it seems you didn’t tell the powers that be that you were starting an Airbnb business and researched how that might affect your taxes, licensing, etc.
By the way, it’s dander, not gander.
You were lucky. A neighbour of mine with an illegal rental was fined $500 per day.
This idea of someone starting an Airbnb being required to pay commercial water/sewer rates and real estate taxes seems to be a new idea in some municipalities and are unforeseen consequences to the typical person.
So, without knowing more, I wouldn’t think that @Letsgo was dishonest or even negligent in researching STR requirements. Of course, if somewhere this is all spelled out on the municipality website, that would be different.
Though, how many of us assume that the laws in our municipality are unchanged? And I think few of us call the city/county’s Water Dept or the Real Property group and say 'Hey, I use my home as an Airbnb business, will that affect my rates? I live at . . ."
@Letsgo , do you need to register or get a license to run an Airbnb in your location? And if you are required, did you register? I can’t tell for sure.
@jaquo @muddy @helsi what I do know is that the office that does permits (it’s just a special use permit) for Airbnbs in my city would not have given me any information about how it could affect my utilities. I am sure they don’t even know.
Most of them didn’t even know that we were supposed to get a permit for our Airbnbs from them 
(most hosts here don’t, I can tell because most of them wouldn’t qualify for one).
It’s not common knowledge that opening an Airbnb would change some of your utilities to a commercial rate. Most people don’t know that.
And it’s not as if anyone goes to school or gets a certification to run an Airbnb. It is inherently a business of amateurs. Maybe some of you are pros but that is not how it is marketed and it is not the nature of it. There’s no reason in the world that @Letsgo would be able to “guess” that they needed to inform their sewer company that they’ve opened an Airbnb.
The OP did say
so I would assume she has declared the business in some way, as she is being charged taxes, unless Airbnb just applied the taxes.
While where I host in Mexico there are completely different entities for registering with the tax dept, municipal licensing, and water and electric, in the area I used to live in Canada, the same office that issues business licenses also deals with municipal property taxes, so water, sewer and garbage. So if a host got a business license, the office would automatically know you were running a business and might indeed try to charge commercial rates on water and sewer.
I couldn’t disagree more. When you are running an STR business then it’s up to you to research how things work and costs involved before setting up your STR.
It doesn’t matter whether you are Joan Bloggs supplementing your retirement or a young couple helping pay their mortgage.
For any business you pay busines rates for utilities, waters, local government taxes etc. because …you’re running a business.
Doing some basic research will tell a would be host
- Whether their lease/HOA allows them to do STR
- Whether there are any local government STR restrictions
- What business costs are needed ie insurance, license, business rates for utilities, cable
In the UK all businesses have to business rates for utilities, local taxes etc. You don’t guess you check, you take advice from your local government or private business representative group you read up on running an STR business. Just as you need to understand how to fill your taxes for your STR business. It’s foolhardy not to take the time to do your research so you don’t put the viability of your business at risk.,
It’s quite common knowledge in the UK that businesses payer high business rates for their services - very surprising to hear it’s not in other countries like the US.
I already understood that. That’s fine.
In the same vein, I thought it was quite common knowledge that, in the US, business rates are lower. 
And I also understand that all of the citizens of the UK are particularly well-informed about all matters that have to do with business as well as most other matters too. I am also duly impressed that you’re able to keep up with all of them. For obvious reasons, I am not able to keep up with the entirety of the US 
However, I have lived in 4 different geographic regions, 6 different states and 17 different cities and towns (and as many counties) and the only thing they had in common was that they all did everything differently from the other.
The only other thing they have in common is that the commercial utility rate is lower than the residential rate so that’s probably why there’s not much fuss over it here.
I pay 12 utility bills every month and only 1 of them qualifies for a commercial rate because of my STR. It probably only saves me about $12 a month so if I didn’t know about it, it wouldn’t make much difference. But I am positive that the gas (private no less) company is not going to track me down and try to give me the commercial rate if I didn’t already have it.
And of course, the taxes are different too because of the STR. They are dramatically less than I would pay without an STR. Again, that’s probably why there’s not much fuss over it. And statistically most people in the US have someone else do their taxes, especially if they have a business. Most business owners wouldn’t take the chance of missing out on deductions, credits or loopholes because they pay off (in lower taxes).
I know you’re busy keeping track of the general consensus in the UK but surely you didn’t miss that the US typically rewards businesses instead of penalizing them, right? That whole healthcare mess should be a clue.
I’ll say it again, from my personal experience in the US (as someone who is familiar with the US), I am surprised that letsgos’ sewer company is sending her extra (and even extraneous) bills. And I don’t doubt that it was innocent on her part. You spoke of “learning and doing research” and that is what she is doing. 
Great- join the club about wanting us small business owners to pay even more.
Thank you. Couldn’t have said it better … Cheers.
It’s not a consensus or in response to your other comments ‘that were all well informed’ - it’s standard throughout the UK - so hardly difficult to keep up with .
It’s simple if you are a business you pay local business rates, you pay commercial rates for utilities, phone, rubbish collection and internet etc.
A two second search on Google would tell you that for UK businesses.
And yes most businesses use an accountant here too but accountants don’t purchase utilities, cable etc that’s done by the business owner
I leant this when I set up my first business twenty years ago.
From what you say the US has a rather confusing system so all the more reason for STR owners to spend a little time doing their research BEFORE they start a business, rather than risk getting fined.
Why would I want to pay more? I want to be legit though.
Agreed. And I want things to be fair between my business and my competitors’ businesses. Our country didn’t notice private rentals until COVID, so they didn’t require inspections, etc. Now they do. That’s ok with me.
But they are also discussing registration fees, and villas (usually 2-6 bedroom homes) may be hit with fees that are 10 times as high on a per-bedroom basis as any other type of accommodation. That’s the kind of discrimination that makes me mad.