NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A4130C
SPONSOR: Fahy
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property law and the tax law, in relation to
short-term residential rental of private dwellings in certain munici-
palities
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To create a registration system for short term rentals in New York State
and allow for the collection of sales tax & applicable occupancy tax
generated from such rentals to the state and localities.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the real property law by adding a new article 2-a to
establish the definitions, regulation, registration, exception, penal-
ties, enforcement, and data sharing of short-term residential rental
units.
Section two amends subdivision (c) of section 1101 of the tax law, as
added by chapter 93 of the laws of 1965, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 6 as
amended by section 2 and paragraph 8 as added by section 3 of part AA of
chapter 57 of the laws of 2010, and paragraph 5 as amended by chapter
575 of the laws of 1965. Defines "short-term rental unit" for the
purposes of tax collection and remittance.
Section three amends subdivision (e) of section 1105 of the tax law by
adding a new paragraph 3 to post the rent for every occupancy of a room
in a hotel or short-term rental offered for rent.
Section four amends subdivision one of section 1131 of the tax law to
define the entities responsible for the collection of applicable taxes.
Section five amends section 1132 of the tax law by adding a new subdivi-
sion (m) to outline the process of applicable tax collection and remit-
tance to appropriate taxing jurisdiction.
Section six amends paragraph 4 of subdivision (a) of section 1136 of the
tax law to exclude the rent from occupancy of a short-term rental-unit
facilitated by a booking service if the owner of such rental returns to
reside in such residence.
Section seven amends section 1142 of the tax law by adding a new subdi-
vision 16 to publish a list on the department's website of booking
services whose certificates of authority have been revoked.
Section eight amends subpart A of part 1 of article 29 of the tax law by
adding a new section 1200 to define hotels.
Section nine states that a county, city, town, or village government may
enact a local law prohibiting or further limiting the listing or use of
dwelling units as short-term residential rental units.
Section ten sets the severability of this act if any application of any
provision is held to be invalid.
Section eleven states the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State is facing a dire shortage of housing supply, specifically
affordable and workforce housing, which is causing instability across
our communities. While solving the housing crisis will take significant
investment and bold legislative action, one area of housing policy that
must be addressed is the extreme proliferation of short-term rentals.
Municipalities across upstate New York saw a record influx of relocated
residents and visitors alike, with Hudson and Kingston becoming the top
two moved-to-places in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. For
many, the ability to welcome visitors for short-term stays has been a
welcomed source of income, and for our smaller cities and towns,
increased tourism has bolstered their economies.
However, while this resurgence played a significant, and unforeseen,
role in supporting our Main Streets and providing additional income
streams for local residents, it also caused an already precarious hous-
ing market to become nearly non-existent and has since turned good hous-
ing stock into vacation rentals taking these homes off the market indef-
initely. Municipalities need better tools to understand how this
economic driver can help, without displacing local residents and
compounding an already growing problem all in the name of profit. Addi-
tionally, many of these same municipalities have been forced to spend
significant resources to manage their short-term rental issues, often
leaving neighboring towns with differing regulations. This causes
confusion among homeowners, visitors and law enforcement and forces
municipalities to spend resources they often don't have in order to
protect their residents. This legislation, for the first time, develops
statewide guidance on short-term rentals, including a rental registry,
in order to give municipalities the information and the revenue they
need to make smart decisions to help right-size the short-term rental
market in their specific communities. Also, municipalities with their
own short-term rental registration systems may continue to use them and
short-term rentals in those municipalities do not need to register with
the state. Finally, the tax collection provisions apply to short-term
rentals statewide, regardless of whether municipalities have their own
registration systems.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
This bill would actually increase revenue for the state and localities.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.