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McCormick to meet with Air BnB reps

Time for a conversation around short term rentals, Mayor says
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Air BnB, and other similar entities, are well entrenched world wide as an option for tourists. With Air BnB, you can rent a room, a suite, an entire house, rather than a hotel room.

Air BnB is operating in Kimberley. A quick search of the website offers over 90 options for vacation rentals in and around Kimberley.

There has been discussion at City Council as to how the city would go about regulating these type of rentals, and also the potential of collecting a hotel tax on them. There is also concern that Air BnBs are taking longterm rental properties out of availability in a very tight rental market.

While in Vancouver for the Union of BC Municipalities convention this week, Mayor Don MCormick will be meeting with representatives from Air BnB.

“We are beginning to look at what short term rentals mean in Kimberley,” McCormick said. “Our goal is to discover what they are doing in other communities to minimize issues such as short term stealing from long term. They (Air BnB) are trying to find a position of middle ground. They are collecting taxes in some jurisdictions, particularly in Quebec, but not all. But they have said they will collect taxes.

“For us, the two per cent resort tax is important, and there’s a lot of short term rental going on in Kimberley that doesn’t collect that tax. We should be embracing short term rentals, but we need to understand it. The long term rental issue is concerning. We know of houses being thrown in short term rentals that should be in long term.”

carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com



Carolyn Grant

About the Author: Carolyn Grant

I have been with the Kimberley Bulletin since 2001 and have enjoyed every moment of it.
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