Belleville council will get serious about learning exactly how many short-term accommodations businesses, or STAs, are operating in the city.
Councillor Kathryn Brown said on one specific day she did an online search of two major short-term accommodation operators and found there were over 800 properties listed in Belleville
Meanwhile, under Belleville’s recent STA licensing by-law, fewer than 150 licences have been issued to operators.
Brown received unanimous support for this motion.
” … council approve up to $15,000 from the Municipal Accommodation Tax, MAT reserve, to engage a third party firm, to identify complete address information on short term rentals operating within the city.”
Council agreed with Brown’s assertion that the increasing numbers of STAs were contributing to an already serious housing shortage in the area.
“Housing should be a place for people to live, for families to live, and not something used for financial speculation and profit,” said Brown.
