A $200 Fee and a 24-Hour Phone Number: Hillsborough's First Vacation Rental Rules Face a Sept. 2 Vote

Hillsborough County commissioners voted Aug. 5 to advance a draft ordinance that would, for the first time, put county rules on short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated Hillsborough, where officials count more than 3,000 of them. Owners would have to register with the county, pay a $200 fee and name a local responsible party available 24 hours a day to answer complaints. The public hearing and final vote are scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, and commissioners want the rules in force Jan. 1.

That is the whole point for the thousands of Hillsborough households living next door to a rental: someone with a name and a phone number who has to pick up at 1 a.m.

Right now there is no such requirement. Commissioner Harry Cohen said the county has no regulations specific to short-term rentals beyond what the state already imposes.

What the draft would do

Registration is the spine of it. Owners pay $200, designate the local contact, and get charged an extra $50 if they fail to show for a scheduled inspection. The county estimates the fee would bring in about $600,000 a year, which is roughly what 3,000 registrations at $200 apiece adds up to.

The ordinance also calls for educating owners and renters on the code rules that already apply, according to the county's summary of the Aug. 5 meeting. Cohen said code enforcement staff and the Sheriff's Office view a required local contact as an effective way to get accountability at a house where things have gone past the scope of a rental.

Baycrest pushed this to the dais

Cohen brought the proposal after hearing from residents in Baycrest, the neighborhood near Town 'N Country. Samantha Freeland, who has lived there 14 years, told commissioners the count in her community went from 96 short-term rentals in January to 121 within seven months, and said neighbors have dealt with drunk visitors climbing their fences, according to local news reports.

Some of the same residents who asked for the ordinance say the draft on the table is not strong enough. Baycrest resident Mark Kiddo said neighbors want mandatory safety inspections before a rental can register, fines that escalate with each violation, and the registration pulled outright from owners who keep violating.

Cohen called the ordinance a great first step and said the usual approach is to start with a framework, watch how it works and adjust as you go.

In the draft	What Baycrest asked for
$200 registration fee	Same, plus inspection first
Local 24-hour contact	Same
$50 missed-inspection charge	Progressive fines
No revocation provision	Registration pulled for repeat violators

What the county cannot do

Florida law limits how far any of this can go. The state preempted vacation rental regulation in 2011, and local governments still cannot ban rentals or regulate how long or how often a home is rented, unless their ordinance was on the books on or before June 1, 2011. Hillsborough's was not. That is why the county is reaching for registration, a responsible party and code enforcement rather than caps on rental nights or outright prohibitions in residential zoning.

One more boundary worth knowing: this ordinance applies to unincorporated Hillsborough. Rentals inside Tampa city limits fall under the city, not the county.

Between now and the vote

Cohen is expected to meet with Baycrest residents at the end of August, before the ordinance comes back for its hearing. That meeting is where the inspection and revocation questions are most likely to get their airing.

The Sept. 2 hearing is a public hearing, which means residents can speak on the record before the board votes. It starts at 9 a.m. at the regular commission meeting, and the county streams its meetings live on the Hillsborough County Meetings YouTube channel. Agendas and backup material post ahead of time at hcfl.gov. Nothing in the draft is final until that vote, including the $200 figure.

Keep up with Hillsborough County government coverage at Tampa Community Website, follow us on Facebook, and tell us how short-term rentals are playing out on your street in our Community Forum. For more from the county commission and city hall, read our government and politics stories, or browse the latest community news.

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