City of Chico Finance Committee to discuss Rent Control in closed meeting – “Finally, this action can be passed without going to vote. If the City chooses, it could initiate a rental registration/compliance program in preparation of expanding the business license tax to include all residential rentals properties.”

This rent control ordinance is being shuffled through as part of a total overhaul of city business license fees and a new “business tax”. This meeting is only available to the public via Zoom. Committee members –  sean.morgan@chicoca.gov  andrew.coolidge@chicoca.gov and scott.huber@chicoca.gov

From the agenda – 

https://www.chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/3.24.21_fc_agenda_packet.pdf?1616179820

Rental Registration/Compliance Programs

A rental registration program provides the City an opportunity to track and maintain rental property compliance separate to, or in conjunction with, business license requirements. HdL offers a wide variety of services designed to assist cities with managing varying aspects of property oversight. These range from implementing and managing a simple registration and information gathering program, to a more detailed rental program that tracks compliance with rent stabilization ordinances and the intricate requirements that go hand in hand with tracking compliance with local or state law.

Option 1 – Basic Rental Registration – tracks top level rental information on a per property/address basis and includes initial identification and education. An $18 fee would be collected per property/landlord account as well as summary
information used for basic inventory of rental properties, inspection tracking, and a first step to more detailed reporting. Under this option the City would receive an estimated $81,000 of registration revenue. For each subsequent period, a fee of $15 plus Consumer Price Index adjustment would be collected per account amounting to an estimated $67,500 annually.

Option 1 (Add on) – Detailed Rental Registration – dives deeper to tracking on a unit level. This option gives the City the ability to collect information such as unit amenities, tenants, rent collected, or any number of unique data elements. An additional fee of $3 per unit would provide an estimated $21,000 of registration revenue. If the City chooses to mandate online filing, the $3 fee can be waived. This option is set to enforce multiple aspects of regulation including stabilization requirements, inspections, tenant complaints, and a more detailed housing inventory data analysis program.

Option 2 – Full Rental Compliance Program – is a turn-key program in which HdL monitors and enforces unit level
regulations, responds to tenant complaints, and performs unit inspections for compliance. Each unit requires its own
account to track individual units with the unit’s tenant, enforcement of rent increase, amenity offerings, and other
ordinance requirements. A registration fee of $20 per account along with a $50 inspection fee would be collected to fund
the compliance program. Total estimated amount generated under Option 2 would be $490,000 in compliance revenue.
Rental registration/compliance programs are administrative fee-based programs that run independently of business
licensing. However, a City’s residential property business license can rely on the completion of rental
registration/compliance. Massage Therapist and Contractors are two examples of businesses that require compliance with
more than one program in order to conduct business in the City.

Finally, this action can be passed without going to vote. If the City chooses, it could initiate a rental registration/compliance
program in preparation of expanding the business license tax to include all residential rentals properties.

Tags: City of Chico business license tax, City of Chico landlord tax, City of Chico rental tax, City of Chico tenant tax