Portland tacks new fees on Airbnb-style rentals

PORTLAND — The Portland City Council on Wednesday tacked two new fees on short-term vacation rentals.

The council on Wednesday approved a $4 a night booking fee, which would go toward housing and homeless initiatives, and an additional 2 percent fee for tourism marketing.

They come in addition to 11.5 percent lodging taxes already collected by Airbnb and other platforms on behalf of the rental operators.

The 2 percent fee is already paid by operators of large hotels throughout the city. The council also removed an exemption for small hotels with fewer than 50 rooms. Together, the changes are expected to raise an additional $895,000 to $1,040,000 annually.

The per-night fee for housing initiatives is expected to raise between $1.1 million and $1.28 million a year.

The council initially delayed a decision on the per-night fee after Commissioner Amanda Fritz argued it should be assessed as a percentage of the nightly rate. But Mayor Ted Wheeler later turned the agenda back to the rental fees and called a vote. It passed 3-2, with Fritz and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly against.

Taken together, Portland’s added fees on short-term rentals would be among the highest in the country, city revenue officials said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and HomeAway might respond.