The City of Santa Barbara’s Short-Term Rental task force collected more than $2.6 million in outstanding taxes, penalties, and fees in its first two years as a pilot program. The task force has been considered a success, using less than half of its allotted budget while chipping away at the nearly 974 illegal vacation rentals reportedly operating within the city.
In its first year, 2024, the Short-Term Rental pilot program collected more than $487,000 from unpermitted properties in the coastal zone and more than $336,000 from properties in the inland areas. At the start of the program, city staff estimated that there were nearly 1,300 illegal vacation rentals in the city; by July 2024, the city had already achieved compliance in 94 cases.
The task force — which includes three special investigators and two financial analysts — already proved to bring in much more money than it costs the city. In 2024, the pilot program spent less than $140,000 of its allocated budget of $1.175 million. In its second year, the program has been run with similar success, spending just $233,000 of its remaining budget and collecting nearly $1.8 million from a total of 230 unpermitted rentals.
These recent statistics were released as part of an updated report on the short-term rental pilot program, which will be presented to the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday, August 5. The City Council will decide how the program can be made into an official permanent task force to address short-term rentals going forward.
In the report, which was prepared by the City Attorney’s Office and planning department, city staff detail the plan to use the remaining portions of the budget to hire additional investigators to handle more cases. But the investigative team is full of experts and retired law enforcement, the report states, and administrative staff have found it difficult to find candidates qualified enough to work with the public toward compliance.
The city has made compliance the top priority. Out of the 230 illegal rentals addressed last year, the task force has gained voluntary compliance in 182 cases. There are 26 priorities with open cases, and the city has filed 22 cases with Santa Barbara Superior Court.
The City Council will give direction to staff regarding what elements should be included in the permanent program, which would be intended to address “nuisance properties” and preserve long-term housing by potentially limiting short-term rentals in single-unit and two-unit residential zones. Council will also address the question of whether a “home-share” option should be included, and whether vacation rentals will continue to be treated as hotels or if a new policy should be implemented.
Currently, enforcement options are limited in the coastal zone, where short-term rentals are legally allowed if the owner acquires all necessary permits. Short-term rentals are only allowed in specific zones of the city’s inland areas.
The August 5 city council meeting will begin at 2 p.m. at City Hall. To view the full staff report, visit the city website.
