UPDATE:
The City’s hearing at @BPLBoston tonight on home sharing is being postponed. #bospoli
— Joyce Linehan (@ashmont) January 26, 2015
On Monday, Jan. 26, Boston residents are invited to participate in a community hearing for the city to better understand residents’ views on apartment-sharing services such as Airbnb.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon of the Boston Public Library.
According to the BPL, “City officials will kick off with a brief presentation about this emergent marketplace and its prevalence in Boston, after which the session will be open to public comment.”
In 2014, Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina also called for a public hearing regarding the likes of Airbnb, HomeAway, and FlipKey to examine whether or not they fall in line with existing municipal rules and regulations, and how best to go about accommodating them otherwise.
According to the Boston Herald, state Representative Aaron Michlewitz filed a bill on Beacon Hill “that would require homeowners to have insurance and pay a tourism tax if they want to open their doors to paying guests.”
“It’s trying to create a safe and secure environment while allowing these operations to continue to thrive,” Michlewitz, co-author of the bill, told the Herald. “It’s a bill that will regulate short-term residential rentals in a similar fashion as hotels are regulated. This bill would simply level the playing field with short-term rentals.”
The bill would require that people who opt to rent out their homes have $500,000 in liability insurance and pay a 5 percent tax based on the discretion of the city or town to be put towards funding tourism.
Back in December, Airbnb published a report that states the company made a $51 million impact on the Boston economy between May 2013 through April 2014 and helped support 490 jobs.
Germany-based travel website GoEuro also determined in December that the most expensive Airbnb rooms in the world are here in Boston, at an average of $274 per night. Cancún, Mexico came in second for Airbnb rooms at $247 per night, followed by New York at $231; Dubai, UAE at $226; and Macao, China at $213.
