The St. Augustine City Commission will vote next week on a proposal to raise annual registration fees for short-term vacation rentals while adding new penalties for owners who fail inspections or miss renewal deadlines.
If adopted, the changes would mark the first fee adjustment since 2020. City officials say the updates are needed to recover the actual costs of administering the city’s rental inspection and oversight program.
Under the proposal, the base registration fee would increase from $294.48 to $303.03 per unit, a bump of $8.55, or about 2.9 percent.
The per-bedroom charge would climb from $73.81 to $79.30, an increase of $5.49, or 7.4 percent. Both fees apply at initial registration and at annual renewal.
The measure would also create new enforcement charges. Owners who miss the renewal deadline would pay a $100 late fee, while rentals that fail an initial inspection would be subject to a $50 re-inspection fee for each follow-up visit.
St. Augustine’s short-term rental program was launched in 2019 in response to a surge in the sector.
It requires owners to register properties and undergo annual inspections to ensure safety and compliance.
Melissa Burns, the city’s financial services director, said in a memo that the existing fees have not been adjusted in five years and no longer reflect the program’s actual costs.
If approved, the new schedule would take effect Oct. 1, the start of the city’s fiscal year.
