"City staff put together a draft to provide guidelines for allowing short-term rentals following the City Council's decision in October to have the planning commission hold a public meeting on the subject. City staff's draft ordinance, which is based on Los Gatos' short-term rentals policy, would allow 5% of the city's housing stock of around 11,500 homes to be used for short-term rentals. Homeowners would have to apply for a license to rent out their primary residence."
"Swanson acknowledged that the main benefit of permitting short-term rentals would be to increase city revenue through transient occupancy taxes and possible ancillary spending by visitors, particularly with the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area in 2026. Saratoga is expected to face a structural budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. Saratoga is a beautiful community, but we rely on residential property taxes, Swanson said during the meeting."
The Saratoga Planning Commission voted 6-1 on Dec. 10 to recommend that the city not allow short-term rentals, with Commissioner Badrinath Sridharan the sole dissent. City staff prepared a draft ordinance modeled on Los Gatos that would limit short-term rentals to 5% of roughly 11,500 homes and require homeowners to obtain licenses for their primary residences. City staff said the city and consultants working with travel booking websites would manage enforcement and tax collection. Officials noted potential revenue from transient occupancy taxes and visitor spending amid a looming structural budget deficit, while public commenters opposed permitting short-term rentals.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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