STRs

This is the text of a letter sent this morning to the Arizona Republic, which gave a favorable indication for its publication this coming Sunday: "Governor Hobbs' state-of-the-state proposal to impose a STR tax of $3.50 per night identifies the major culprit of housing unaffordability. Specifically, in Phoenix, as the Arizona Republic has reported, 20% of all residential units have become STRs, and thus they have substantially reduced the supply of housing which (under the law of supply and demand) raises the price, i.e., makes housing more unaffordable. The problem is that, whatever good a $3.50 per night tax will do, it is not a large enough tax to make a dent in the harm STRs are doing both in terms of reducing housing supply and disrupting single-family neighborhoods. So kudos to the Governor for identifying the path we should be on which, with a larger per night tax and increased transaction privilege tax (TPT), could bring about the structural change needed to make Arizona's housing affordable again. And we can hope that the Governor's example would spur Phoenix's mayor and city council to get on board and impose its own STR per-night and and TPT taxes, raise the STR license fee, and push the state legislature on those fronts, instead of sitting on the sideline as if housing affordability is someone else's problem."

[EOP]