Owners of short-term rentals in Salem are accusing the city of hurting small businesses and damaging tourism through burdensome fees, taxes and fines.
Short-term rentals and accessory short-term rentals — rooms rented out within a family’s home — have grown in popularity in the last decade on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
Carole Smith, a downtown property owner with four rental units, said Salem requires an $800 initial licensing fee and a $7,000 conditional use permit. The city moved forward with including short-term rentals in a Tourism Promotional Area fee, and owners said they received notice that Salem would start fining unlicensed rentals $2,000 a day. That number was later reduced to $250 in follow-up notices…