Editor’s note: This commentary is by Brian F. Carroll, of West Glover, a native Vermonter with a doctorate in educational leadership who works as a public education administrator. He is chair of the Glover Selectboard and an owner/host of a short-term rental in West Glover.
[A]mong other contentions in her commentary last week, Julia Cook asserts that short-term rentals are “out of control” in the Northeast Kingdom and cause undue harm to neighboring residents. Her commentary contains misinformation and factual distortions about short-term rentals statewide and in Glover.
For starters, all Vermont short-term rentals are required to pay the 9% state rooms tax. In fact, according to the Vermont Department of Taxes, half of all the taxable receipts for lodging last year came from short-term rentals. In addition to this sizable contribution, the department states that short-term rentals comprise only 2% of the state’s grand list.
Cook also contends short-term rentals have a lack of accountability resulting in safety concerns that pose risks for guests and how “guests are not properly instructed on trash disposal and recycling.” Anyone familiar with the mission of Airbnb will know of the sharing community philosophy. Guests who access short-term rentals are very connected to the sharing community ethos and are naturally concerned about safety and environmental impact. One only needs to read the reviews of any Airbnb or VRBO rental and you will see how guests hold hosts accountable for a safe, clean and pleasant stay.
It is this market accountability that ensures quality and drives hosts to pay attention to these details. No one can just “put their home on Airbnb” and be successful. In the NEK, it takes thoughtful attention to detail and an understanding of what travelers seek in the beauty, the quiet and the culture of our region.
These are just a few of the distorted contentions expressed in last week’s commentary. To describe all short-term rentals as an unregulated blight in the NEK is unfair to those hosts who attract visitors who are respectful to the culture of Vermont and the NEK.
The fact remains that there are minimal lodging option outside resort towns in the Northeast Kingdom for visitors to enjoy the local color. Short-term rentals provide access to lodging that has the least disruptive consequence for our rural communities. Is it Cook’s desire to have Comfort Inns dotting I-91 and our secondary roads?
I encourage people to review Airbnb.com properties in the NEK and see the diversity of options people have both in accommodations and advertised rates.
