Vacation Rental Politics - Lodging Newsletter April 30, 2024

By Wm, May
Published: 02/29/24 Topics: Education, Employment, Government, Vortex VIP Comments: 0

Politics and Vacation Rentals make strange bedfellows. That makes sense for lodging where providing "beds" is the name of the game. But for politics, the operative word is just plain "strange".
 
Politicians have been known to praise tourism as good for local economies, all while they are hand cuffing travelers with excessive taxes, lodging promotion contributions, and repugnant regulations.
 
The latest incursion on travel is where naive local politicians attempt to circumvent the traveling public's wants, by profiting from vacation rentals or burdening them with unnecessary and poorly conceived regulations
 
Marketing of any product is simple - "Ask consumers what they want. And then you give it to therm."  Businesses don’t tell consumers what to buy. They give it to them. That is especially true for travel.
 
Politicians like to ignore that undeniable truth, by dreaming up more ignorant ideas, all of which will cut travel in their areas and, thereby, cut those locals jobs that support their constituents.
 
The latest stupidity is how Chelan County Washington fabricated laws that add costs for visitors and saddle homeowners with unnecessary costs. Worse yet "Drop Dead" clauses permanently strips owners of their Constitution bundle of real estate rights for any imagined violation.
 
Washington State lawmakers want to allow cities and counties to add an additional whopping 10% to the sales and lodging taxes. They figure if consumers are stupid enough to pay the current 10 to 14% tax, they are dumb enough to pay 20 to 24%.
 
Consumers know when they are getting ripped off. They disappear never to return. The gossip mill warns other visitors that they are not wanted in Chelan County.
 
On top of all that, Chelan County's egotistical Community Director fools spent $300,000 for a software system to encourage neighbors spy on visitors, only later to admit that any traveler fines won't be enforceable to offset the cost.
 
There are bigger problems in the world than what vacation rental owners face. But if governments approaches all problems as they have for rentals, is no wonder they fail to solve those bigger issues.

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Here is an open letter to the Chelan County Commissioners. Sounds like they believe their super citizen role gives them the right to ignore fair play and smart thinking.
 
Dearest Commissioners & Bureaucrats:
 
If you myopically thought that soaking visitors with never ending taxes would not decrease tourism, congratulations - you have fooled even yourself. Why be surprised that County Lodging contributions have dropped hugely?
 
If your goal was - To decrease sales for every business that relies on visitors, you should be congratulated for crushing commerce in the county.
 
If your goal was - To increase unemployment by causing those companies to cut jobs, you should be congratulated for hurting the very people who you are supposed to be protecting.
 
If your goal was - To get rid of all those pesky out-of-town land owners, you should  be congratulated. You did it and devastated those people who don’t get to vote in your election. Smart really.
 
If your goal was  - To trick people into thinking second homeowners would rent them out as affordable housing, thereby prohibiting their owner's use, congratulations on an idea that has never worked anywhere else.
 
If your goal was to - Kick people out of the county, who have owned there and loved it (As you do) for decades, congratulations for that kind of apartheid.
 
If your goal was - To pander to those citizens who hate everyone and everything, you should be congratulated for creating your own kind of hate crime.
 
If you goal was - To make those people hate heavy handed government, you should not be congratulated for tricking and treating people like fools.
 
If your goal was - To rake in more unnecessary taxes and increase costs, adding layers of paper shuffling bureaucrats, congratulations, now you have more people sucking money for no valid reason.
 
Can you ever comprehend that responsible people are entitled to take care of their properties without more mind-numbing rules, regulations, risks and abuse? You should be congratulated for doing the opposite.
 
Can you admit - That right now is the time to cut the vacation rental regulations down by 90%. Have a simple form to ensure everyone pays taxes, has safety equipment and lists how to contact owners if there is an issue.
 
Of course, all the haters in the county will castigate you for prohibiting them spewing their hatred. But it is time to do the right thing, so that maybe you could be congratulated for standing up for fair play.

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0992 – 02/29/24

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com