State Government dismisses Shire of Augusta-Margaret River concerns about ratings discrepancies for Airbnb

The WA Government has dismissed talk that its Statewide registry for short-stay accommodation might be short-changing local ratepayers. As the local government eyes a review of ratings categories — which includes a planned look into the short-stay sector — concerns have emerged reforms meant to address a creep in unregistered accommodation providers has created a new problem. With providers needing to register with the State government, rather than the local government, Shire CEO Andrea Selvey said it was hard to keep track. “This complicates our ability to fairly and accurately rate properties,” she said. “The new system allows unhosted STRA to be accepted onto the list without the checks and balances that were previously in place to confirm Shire approval.” With ministerial shake-ups after the March election, responsibility for short-stay reforms falls between multiple MPs which triggered an overall State Government response to recent Times inquiries. The statement said short-term rentals where the owner lived on-site were exempted from needing local government approvals because the property’s main purpose was as a home, which matched existing residential zonings. “The vast majority of short-stay properties in the shire of Augusta-Margaret River are unhosted and still require a development application,” they said. “There is no evidence to suggest that the small number of hosted short stays is having a notable impact on Shire rate revenue.” Ms Selvey has already said the purpose of the ratings review was about equity and fairness – not increasing revenue – despite concerns ratepayers were propping up the tourism sector without external funding help. The Shire’s position comes despite a recommendation from its revenue diversification project pointing to the short-stay sector as an under-taxed rates category, and a possible lifeline for the Shire looking to ease the rates burden on residential ratepayers. “We want all properties and ratepayers to make a fair contribution to our community so our rating structure needs to reflect the principles of objectivity, fairness, consistency, transparency, and administrative efficiency,” Ms Selvey said. “As part of our rating structure review, we’ll consider how hosted and unhosted short-term rental accommodation is rated so they are making a fair contribution to our community.”