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> why does that automatically need to be resolved ... ? Did someone say that it did? One issue is how to fund government services if revenue from hotels/short

• JoshTriplett 11y ago
  Hotel taxes are popular because they primarily tax non-residents, who don't have a say in local policy. As long as they're not so high that they counterproductively decrease tourism, they can be almost arbitrarily high. That doesn't necessarily make them sensible, just less controversial because non-residents don't get to vote.
  • hackuser 11y ago
    Agreed, though that only seems to add to the problem: Hotel taxes are politically difficult to reduce, which means that short-term rentals taxes will be the same. Come to think of it, why shouldn't Airbnb renters pay the same tax as hotel customers? It doesn't seem hard to implement and shouldn't cause a shortage of tourists (there were plenty staying at hotels/motels before Airbnb became an option).