Gimli has officially joined the ranks of the select few communities in Manitoba that have adopted bylaws to regulate short-term rentals (STRs).
After numerous complaints about STRs in the municipality, council set out to establish bylaws to protect property owners from ungoverned behaviours that disrupt the peace, as well as ensure rental properties won’t endanger guests.
Council gave second and final reading to its Short Term Rental Bylaw (No. 23-0011) and its Accommodation Tax Bylaw (23-0012) during its regular council meeting on Dec. 13.
Coun. Thora Palson said there are very few communities in Manitoba – the city of Winnipeg and the Municipality of Harrison Park (near Riding Mountain) being two – that have established bylaws for STRs, and it shows Gimli’s willingness to tackle pressing issues affecting the entire municipality.
“This is new territory as far as legislation goes. Winnipeg and other places in Manitoba do have regulatory bylaws for STRs, but there are very few. This characterizes Gimli as a trailblazer going forward with these types of regulations,” said Palson. “I want to thank the community for engaging with us on STRs, and I really appreciate everyone who submitted letters, participated in our STR survey and attended our open house. That feedback guided this process and made it specific and relevant to Gimli.”
The Short Term Rental Bylaw requires STR operators to pay an annual licence fee of $200 for each dwelling unit rented. Operators can receive a maximum suspension of 30 days if they fail to adhere to regulations that include placing limits on the number of guests per bedroom, having fire extinguishers, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on each floor, maintaining quiet hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., banning additional accommodations in motor vehicles, trailers or tents and posting a valid STR licence number in advertisements, among other requirements.
Between first reading of the bylaws in November and second and third reading in December, Palson said 15 people wrote to the municipality with suggested changes and the RM made some amendments. Changes were made, for example, to the wording of the STR bylaw with regard to condominiums. It formerly required a condo applicant to seek permission from his/her condo board. That was changed to having the applicant provide a copy of a condo’s bylaws, which should state the position on STRs.
DJ Sigmundson, who was the strategic project coordinator for the establishment of the bylaws and worked with the RM’s lawyer, said it will be easy for the RM to determine who’s trying to operate an STR under the radar.
“The bylaw requires people advertising their STRs to put their licence number on their ad. It will be very easy for us to look at those ads and see who doesn’t have one,” said Sigmundson. “Generally, bylaw enforcement in Manitoba municipalities is complaint-driven, so there’ll not likely be a lot of proactive effort on our part. If we become aware of illegal operations, we’ll take enforcement measures.”
In addition to the possibility of having one’s STR licence suspended, the operator could be “fined heavily” if they disregard the suspension, he said.
The Accommodation Tax Bylaw states that people renting an STR must pay five percent of the purchase price (excluding the federal GST) of their accommodation, and the STR operator will then forward that on to the municipality. The taxes will support tourism and recreation.
The RM will deposit accommodation taxes into a municipal reserve fund, which was established for the “specific purpose of collecting the accommodation tax for promoting and supporting local tourism, recreation, and leisure initiatives, and developing and improving the municipal waterfront areas and expending such funds for eligible costs arising from the specific purpose.”
If operators fail to forward the accommodation tax to the RM, they can be subject to on-site visits for the purpose of collecting those taxes or to an audit of their books, records and electronic files in order to determine the amount owed.
A penalty of five per cent will be charged, as well as the amount of unpaid taxes, against operators who fail to remit the accommodation taxes.
Failure to pay the outstanding owned and the penalty can result in a fine of up to $1,000 (for individual operators) and/or imprisonment not exceeding six months. The fine for corporations operating an STR and failing to pay the tax is $5,000.
“[Jail time] is pretty standard language; all the regulatory bylaws have a fine or jail,” said Sigmundson.
As far as estimates regarding revenues from STR regulation, Sigmundson said “it’s a tough number to give” as the RM hasn’t registered STRs before. If there are 200 STRs operating in the RM, licence revenue would be $40,000. How much the RM will make under the tax bylaw depends on how often an STR gets rented out.
The tax bylaw requires approval from Manitoba’s Lieutenant Governor, and Sigmundson said he’s not sure when that will be granted. The short-term bylaw will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
“We won’t be enforcing anything, though, in January because we’re allowing a transition or phase-in period of three months for people to address any deficiencies they might have under Manitoba’s Building Code. If your dwelling is not up to code right now, you might have to make upgrades before you apply for a licence,” he said. “We’ll start enforcing the STR bylaw on April 1.”
Other council news:
- The RM posted its consolidated financial statements for the year ending Dec. 31, 2022, under the December meeting agenda.
- The RM also posted under its agenda an Emergency Response Plan for 2024 that was prepared by Napier Emergency Consulting.
The plan provides information on how to handle a major emergency or disaster, as well as establishes best practices in emergency management. The plan identifies the roles and responsibilities of municipal mayors/reeves, chief administrative officers, RM staff, first responders and municipal emergency coordinators, and covers topics such as mutual aid, response timelines, threat assessments, public alerts, evacuations for communities such as Willow Island, shelter-in-place preparations and damage assessments. - Council approved the designation of the Hollenberg Cottage as a building of architectural or historic value after a public hearing. The cottage is located at 24 North Lake St. in Loni Beach.
- Council granted Caliana Developments a second extension after the developer asked for more time to begin construction of duplexes on Wedgewood Place near Sigurbjorg Stefansson Early School.
