Only a couple of weeks before Soldotna’s bed tax is set to go into effect, the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday made some changes to the code to respond to “hurdles” that arose in the year spent preparing for it.
It was Dec. 13, 2023, when the council adopted a 4% lodging tax for stays fewer than 30 continuous days at hotels, motels, inns, lodges, Airbnbs and Vrbos, per previous Clarion reporting.
According to a release from the City of Soldotna, the revenue from the new tax will support a new “Tourism Enhancement Fund.”
The tax is set to go into effect Jan. 1.
Soldotna Vice Mayor Lisa Parker was a sponsor on the ordinance enacting the tax. On Wednesday, she said that since that move, Soldotna’s administration has “identified a few areas” for small adjustments and changes. Among those is removal of language in the ordinance that said the tax would be collected by the Kenai Peninsula Borough — it will instead be collected by Soldotna.
An ordinance making changes was considered and unanimously enacted by the council during the meeting, after a successful amendment added further changes to the code.
Soldotna City Manager Janette Bower said the new language includes required quarterly reporting of tax returns — even if sales are zero. There are new penalties for failing to file — a $25 fee and a 10% interest rate on delinquent tax.
New language in the ordinance also describes compliance requirements before a short-term lodging certificate can be issued and defines circumstances for revocation or suspension of that certificate, such as failing to meet city code or providing false information. Before a certificate can be revoked, a licensee will be given a hearing before the city manager.
A fee for “unlawful operation of a lodging business,” set at $250, newly specifies “per day.”
A change made in the amended ordinance considered Wednesday says that certificates of registration are valid until surrendered, revoked or suspended. The code previously said that the certificates needed to be renewed each year by application with the city clerk.
Tyson Cox, who operates rentals in Soldotna, said that the changes make the code more clear and reduce sources of friction for operators. He said he still has questions about how a requirement for display of the certificate of registration can be enforced when most short-term rentals, like Airbnbs, aren’t publicly accessible.
Parker said that if additional changes need to be made in the future, once the tax is enacted and further hiccups arise, those changes can be made.
For more information, visit soldotna.org/lodgingtax. A full recording of the council meeting can be found at “City of Soldotna” on YouTube.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dyer@peninsulaclarion.com.
