Prairie Village’s ongoing discussion about how to address short-term rentals, like AirBnbs and Vrbos, veered into new territory Tuesday with the majority of the city council expressing interest in possibly imposing a transient guest tax on such properties.
Previously, the city council had discussed new rules that would effectively ban short-term rentals in the city.
But this week, the Prairie Village City Council directed city staff to research how much tax revenue existing short-term rental properties could generate for the city.
Transient guest taxes are imposed by some Kansas municipalities on room rentals or lodging but can only apply to dwellings with more than two bedrooms that are rented for 28 consecutive days or less, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Tuesday’s conversation was a departure from what the city council had discussed in May when it asked city staff to begin exploring a possible minimum 30-day stay requirement on all rentals. That move, in practice, would be an outright ban on short-term rentals, which are generally defined as lasting 28 days or less.
City staff on Tuesday initially shared ban-related information with the city council, originally seeking further direction from councilmembers on the details of a ban.
Here’s what other cities are doing
- A handful of other Johnson County cities like Fairway, Mission and Merriam recently adopted stricter regulations for short-term rentals earlier this year.
- The city of Shawnee considered banning short-term rentals but ultimately opted to impose new rules rather than outright ban the properties.
- Some rules in these Johnson County cities include a 1,000-foot buffer zone between short-term rental properties and limiting the number of licenses issued to one owner.
- The cities of Leawood and Mission Hills currently prohibit short-term rentals by requiring all rentals to abide by a 30-day minimum stay.
- Beth Breitenstein, the strategic communications director for Leawood, said this policy — which requires a rental license — has been on the city’s books since 2017.
What ‘we’d be leaving on the table’
- Councilmember Cole Robinson said the city needs to know how much revenue short-term rentals may generate from a transient guest tax before talking about an outright ban.
- Robinson, who shared a positive experience with a short-term rental directly behind his property in Prairie Village, said Monday he wanted projections for a potential 9% transient guest tax levied on short-term rentals.
- That idea drew interest from several others who previously supported exploring a ban on short-term rentals, including Councilmember Ian Graves.
- While he previously leaned toward banning short-term rentals, Graves said he’d like to see what transient guest tax revenue “we’d be leaving on the table” if the city opted for a ban.
- The city council in a 9-2 vote during a council committee of the whole session directed city staff to further research revenue projections for a transient guest tax on short-term rentals.
Some still support a short-term rental ban
- Councilmembers Inga Selders and Lori Sharp cast the dissenting votes against Robinson’s motion.
- Selders and Sharp both said short-term rentals were a top concern from residents during the 2023 campaign season.
- Sharp said some residents have likened living next to short-term rentals as living next to a Holiday Inn, and she thinks “we need to keep our residential, residential.”
- Councilmember Greg Shelton said that if the projected transient guest tax revenue from short-term rentals isn’t compelling, then he’s uninterested “in moving short-term rentals forward.” (Shelton is the brother-in-law of Post publisher Jay Senter.)
Next steps:
- City staff anticipates returning to the city council with an estimate of how much revenue a transient guest tax on short-term rentals could generate for the city.
- This could appear as an agenda item in an upcoming city council meeting.
- Prairie Village’s city council meets on the first and third Mondays of each month starting at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 7700 Mission Road.
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