Key Takeaways

  • Tampa is exploring whether to join Hillsborough County’s proposed short-term rental registry instead of creating a separate system
  • Hillsborough County surrounds Tampa and includes a large unincorporated area where roughly 3,000 short-term rentals are estimated to operate
  • County commissioners are scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on the proposal Sept. 2

Tampa may soon get a much clearer picture of just how many short-term rentals are operating inside the city.

City leaders are exploring whether Tampa can join a proposed short-term rental registry being developed by Hillsborough County, the county that includes Tampa and stretches across much of the surrounding metro area.

The county proposal currently focuses on its unincorporated communities outside city limits, where officials estimate roughly 3,000 short-term rentals are operating.

Tampa City Council Chair Alan Clendenin raised the issue earlier this month after Hillsborough commissioners advanced the county ordinance. He asked city attorneys to determine how Tampa could opt into the program if the county leaves the door open for municipalities to participate.

The move could give Tampa its first formal system for identifying and tracking short-term rentals, something Clendenin said the city badly needs.

“Right now, it’s kind of like a free reining world of Airbnbs,” Clendenin said during an Aug. 6 council meeting.

During that same discussion, Clendenin cited an estimate of about 9,000 active short-term rentals in Tampa, including roughly 6,000 investor-owned properties. City officials have not independently verified those figures through a local registry because Tampa does not currently have one.

The county proposal is further along.

Hillsborough commissioners approved a draft ordinance Aug. 5 and are scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on it Sept. 2.

Hillsborough County said the plan would require short-term rental owners to register their properties and designate a local responsible party who could quickly respond to complaints or problems.

Tampa could piggyback on the county system

The geography matters because Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are not the same jurisdiction.

Tampa is the county’s largest city, but large parts of Hillsborough sit outside Tampa and other incorporated municipalities.

County code enforcement generally handles those unincorporated areas, while Tampa is responsible for enforcement inside its own city limits.

That split is one reason officials are discussing a shared framework. Clendenin said some short-term rental complaints reaching county officials involve properties inside Tampa, where county enforcement officers cannot simply apply an unincorporated-area program unless the city participates.

Rather than build a completely separate registration system, Tampa could potentially adopt the county framework if the final ordinance includes an opt-in mechanism for cities.

Tampa City Council directed legal staff to explore that option and report back Aug. 27, just days before Hillsborough commissioners are scheduled to vote on the county ordinance.

What Hillsborough County is proposing

The county’s proposal would create an annual registration program for short-term vacation rentals and give enforcement officers a direct way to connect complaints with specific properties and responsible contacts.

The draft calls for a $200 annual registration fee and would require owners to name someone who can respond to issues within an hour. Owners would also need to show compliance with state licensing and local tourist-tax requirements.

Property owners or representatives who miss scheduled inspections could face a $50 penalty, while operating without registration could trigger separate code violations for each day the property remains out of compliance.

County officials have estimated registration fees could generate about $600,000 annually to help pay for startup costs, inspections and operator education.

Related: Popular North Carolina mountain town tables short-term rental ordinance rewrite

Hillsborough County has framed the ordinance primarily as a registration and enforcement tool rather than a ban on short-term rentals. County officials say the goal is to know where rentals are operating, make sure owners understand existing rules and give neighbors a clear contact when problems arise.

The county’s own Aug. 5 meeting recap confirms commissioners advanced the draft and set the Sept. 2 public hearing and vote. The county also posted a business impact estimate for the short-term vacation rental ordinance amendment on Aug. 13, signaling the proposal is continuing through the formal adoption process.

Tampa still has another step

Even if Hillsborough County approves the ordinance Sept. 2, Tampa would not automatically become part of the program.

The city would still need to determine how an opt-in would work and take whatever local legislative action is required. Clendenin’s Aug. 6 motion specifically asked city legal staff to explore that process rather than immediately create a new Tampa ordinance.

For now, that leaves Tampa watching what happens at the county level while city attorneys work through the details.

If the two governments ultimately use the same framework, the result could be a broader registration system covering both Tampa neighborhoods and much of the surrounding unincorporated county instead of two separate approaches.

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