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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Numerous vacation rentals exist along the coast.
Airbnb: Cannon Beach has joined an emerging
skepticism about these agreements in the past year
Continued from Page 1A
Definitions
The state passed legislation in 2013
that requires intermediaries to pay lodg-
ing taxes directly to cities.
Wendy Johnson, an intergovernmen-
tal relations associate with the League
of Oregon Cities, said the conflict comes
from the fact Airbnb does not identify as
an intermediary, and therefore argues they
don’t have to adhere to the requirements.
“We’ve explained that the agree-
ments are one option for tax payment.
The league will continue to pursue legis-
lation that all entities should be treated the
same,” Johnson said.
Differences in language about whether
Airbnb is responsible for local and state
lodging taxes is what the league is hoping
to resolve during the upcoming legislative
session. Because there is no specific state
statute, Johnson said Airbnb is claiming
federal internet privacy protections as jus-
tification for keeping clients anonymous.
“Right now, some cities are getting
paid, some aren’t. But they aren’t pay-
ing you unless you get an agreement. We
think all intermediaries should be treated
the same,” Johnson said.
Cities have had mixed experiences
with entering these types of agreements,
she said. Larger cities, which have a hard
time tracking unregistered rentals, have
used agreements to avoid the risk of los-
ing revenue in a time where most are fac-
ing shortfalls. But smaller towns, like
Cannon Beach, often have better luck
working with local property owners who
pay taxes directly.
Not being able to audit these vacation
rentals also makes it nearly impossible
to enforce codes that help regulate safety
and the saturation of rentals in the midst
of countrywide housing crisis, Johnson
said.
Skepticism
Cannon Beach has joined an emerg-
ing skepticism about these agreements in
the past year. Astoria has been hesitant to
allow Airbnb to collect lodging taxes on
the city’s behalf, even as city staff strug-
gle to enforce city rules and collect all the
taxes owed. At a work session in Decem-
ber, staff brought up concerns about not
knowing who is operating these types of
vacation rentals.
Hoteliers like Cynthia and Stephen
Malkowski of the Arch Cape Inn came
out against Seaside’s agreement because
of what they saw as unfair treatment.
Jason Brandt, president and CEO of
the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Asso-
ciation, said he dissuades cities from
entering these agreements. There should
be an equal playing field in the market-
place, and that all lodging should be held
to the same standard to ensure cities have
accurate information, he added.
“We consider ourselves a partner with
cities to make sure revenue is collected so
cities can promote tourism,” Brandt said.
Accountability
Seaside, however, saw the agreement
as a way to collect money the city oth-
erwise would have never received, said
Public Information Officer Jon Rahl.
“Previously, if you booked a room
through Airbnb, you’d get a notice of
a state lodging tax, but no notice of the
local. You were just paying $1.80 on a
$100 rental,” Rahl said. “It was really left
up to the host to collect the local tax sepa-
rately and charge the person after the fact
or take it out of their own pockets.”
Along with the agreement, Rahl said
the city also decided to invest in STR
Helper, a type of software that tracks
homes listed on Airbnb and reports which
homes don’t necessarily match up with
list of licensed rentals.
Cannon Beach city councilors decided
to explore the possibility of investing in
similar software, in the hopes that if the
city can identify noncompliant rentals it
can also succeed in receiving payment
directly.
“This would mitigate the problem of
not knowing who these people are. We
get more from this program than from
Airbnb,” City Councilor Mike Benefield
said.
Warrenton: District has grown about 20 percent over the past decade
Continued from Page 1A
Rapid growth
As the region’s most afford-
able urban housing market,
Warrenton grew from 4,100
people in 2000 to nearly 5,400
people last year, according to a
forecast by Portland State Uni-
versity’s Population Research
Center. The city is expected to
add another 2,000 residents by
2035.
“We agreed that the 2 per-
cent per year population growth
is probably conservative,” said
Mark Kujala, a former Warren-
ton mayor who helped present
the committee’s findings.
Over the past decade, the
district has grown by about
20 percent, topping 1,000 stu-
dents for the first time last year.
Superintendent Mark Jeffery
has estimated enrollment will
eventually peak at 1,159 stu-
dents in the 2024-25 school
year.
The district has had to be
creative in fitting all the new
students, filling every nook and
cranny of the grade school and
adding six two-classroom por-
tables outside. The high school
is also at capacity and will
require portables for any new
growth, the committee’s report
said.
School by school
Seaside School District
recently passed a $100 mil-
lion bond measure to build a
new K-12 campus on 80 acres
donated by Weyerhaeuser
out of the tsunami inundation
zone. The district has a dramat-
ically higher-value property
tax base than Warrenton.
“We can’t go out for a $100
million general obligation
bond,” Kujala said. “We need
to do something in a phased-in
approach. We also, at the same
time, have to recognize that
the ultimate goal is to relocate
all of the classes and all of the
grades to a new campus.”
The committee recom-
mended acquiring the first right
of refusal on a 70- to 80-acre
plot of land for between $4
million and $6 million, with
the purchase contingent on
passage of a general obligation
bond in the November election.
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The district would also sell
property it owns in Hammond.
A $27.5 million middle
school would be built for at
least 260 students, with utili-
ties, gyms and other features
designed to eventually expand.
The committee found moving
the middle school grades out
of the K-8 Warrenton Grade
School would provide the least
disruption to students, Kujala
said.
The second phase would
add the high school with a
bond in the May 2022 election,
while keeping portions of the
old high school for a regional
vocational center. The last
phase would add preschool and
elementary grades to the mas-
ter campus with a May 2032
bond measure.
The bond for the cam-
pus and middle school is esti-
mated to cost $2.49 per $1,000
worth of assessed property
value, with a 25-year maturity.
School Board Member Dan
Jackson questioned how the
district would pay off the sub-
sequent bonds in a short time
span.
Districts regularly refinance
bonds to lower payments and
go out for new bonds half-
way through the maturity of
existing measures, Rose said.
Warrenton’s growth will also
expand the tax base, and the
district has 66 cents per $1,000
of assessed value in existing
bond debt coming off peo-
ple’s tax bills in five years,
Kujala said.
In about 35 bond cam-
paigns he’s been involved in,
Rose said about 80 to 85 per-
cent passed. While price is an
issue, most that fail are because
of the lack of a clear vision
supported by the community,
he said.
“I would encourage lay-
ing out a master campus plan
before you decide whether to
go out for a bond,” Rose said,
estimating the school board
would likely decide in April or
May on whether to go out for
a bond.
Rose recommended the dis-
trict apply for a matching grant
of up to $4 million from the
state, made available if voters
pass a general obligation bond.
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