Monday night, Spokane City Council voted to pass ORD C36709, an ordinance that proposes updates to multiple sections of the Spokane Municipal Code.
Supporters of the ordinance say it ensures that public funding for property development goes towards affordable housing. This comes after some developers in the city were using Multi Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) to get tax breaks for establishing short-term rentals, instead of units meant for long-term housing.
Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke says the ordinance supports “predictability.”
“It’s not to prevent a development from having short term rentals,” said Klitzke. “But I don’t think the taxpayers will support subsidizing short-term rentals.”
Council Member Jonathan Bingle has a different understanding of how the ordinance will function.
“This absolutely would eliminate their ability to have short term rentals as part of an MFTE project,” Bingle said. “Specifically, because it’s more work on our staff at this point.”
Additionally, Council Member Michael Cathcart explained his concern that, without tax incentives available to them in Spokane, developers may turn to establishing short-term rentals in other cities.
The ordinance ultimately passed, with four votes for, and Bingle, Cathcart voting against.
