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Lasee Pulls Lodging Bill

Wisconsin Senator Frank Lasee has pulled his proposal to exempt second home and condo rentals from lodging industry rules off the legislative agenda.

Lasee’s bill, SB 482, would have exempted residential or vacation home rentals of seven days or longer from lodging regulations and inspections, including room tax. When the legislation was introduced, state lodging and tourism groups were shocked.

“This one was kept pretty well quiet until it came out,” said Door County Visitor Bureau President and CEO Jack Moneypenny.

Lasee’s Chief of Staff Rob Kovach said the legislation was not intended to impact room tax collection. He said the bill was meant to help second homeowners who could no longer afford two homes to more easily rent their vacation home.

“There are some rules and regulations forbidding homeowners from renting their homes, saying they would have to install sprinkler systems and the like,” Kovach said. “Addressing room tax was not the intent.”

Second homes and condominium rentals have grown into a significant portion of the lodging industry over the last 15 years. In Door County second homes and cottages make up 22 percent of rental units. The Door County Tourism Zone Commission has extended substantial resources to identify such properties to make sure they’re paying their share of room tax since the zone was formed in 2007.

As second homes have become a bigger share of the lodging marketplace, innkeepers have pressed officials and lawmakers to hold second homeowners to the same standards as hotels, resorts, and bed and breakfasts.

The bill would have meant that such homes would no longer fall under the state’s lodging definition, relieving second homeowners of other requirements, including health inspections. Kovach said the intent was to take regulation and enforcement out of state hands and allow local units of government to enact whatever rules and regulations they saw fit.

“We wanted local governments to regulate that particular rental, instead of the state,” he said. “The local unit of government would be better equipped for enforcement.

After hearing an immediate backlash from the lodging industry about the bill, Kovach said Lasee decided to pull it to re-work the language. He said it’s highly unlikely a re-written bill would be introduced in this session and would probably not come forward until next year.