Metro Council Member Tanaka Vercher will be introducing BL2019-1627 Tuesday, which would increase the application and renewal fee of short-term rental permits from $50 to $313 annually.
According to the bill, which will have it’s first reading on Tuesday, the fee currently being charged for the application and renewal application has been determined by an independent fee study to be insufficient to cover the expenses related to the permitting , and should be drastically increased. Metro contracted with Fiscal Choice Consulting, LLC, who studied the costs related to short-term rental permitting (for an unknown cost) and determined that the current fee is insufficient to defray the cost to provide the services related to permitting and recommended a significant fee increase. Vercher is the sole sponsor of the bill.
Data shows there are just over 5200 active permits in Nashville, meaning the permit revenue would increase from $260,000/year to $1,627,600/year. A copy of the proposed legislation is here. You can email the council with support or opposition here: CouncilMembers@nashville.gov
Vercher, who is the Metro Council’s Budget & Finance committee chair, and sole sponsor of this bill, was previously caught lying on her Ethics Commission disclosures, declaring she never had a bankruptcy, when WKRN obtained her bankruptcy filings, proving she did. Her personal financial issues include multiple judgments against her for failure to pay homeowner’s due, to allegedly selling a car to someone with a lien on the title. She did take the money management class required by law during her bankruptcy. She is running for re-election in District 28.
