Short-term rentals in Kissimmee, explained properly.

The City says that although an address may say Kissimmee, the property may be in unincorporated Osceola County, where business tax receipts are handled by Osceola County. The rules on this page apply only inside City of Kissimmee limits; resort areas in unincorporated Osceola County follow the County's code, which this page does not cover.

The STRO identifies areas where short-term rental and time-share developments may be located. They are allowed in the STRO only if listed as a permitted or conditional use in the zoning tables or the planned development rules, and every short-term rental must meet section 14-6-44. Rentals must use a housing type (single family, duplex and the like) that the underlying zone allows and meet that zone's standards. Check with the City whether a parcel is inside the STRO.

The residential schedule of uses (Table 4-1) lists short-term rentals, where the housing type is allowed, as a conditional use in the RA-4, RB-1, RB-2, RC-1 and RC-2 zones and does not list them in the AC, RE, RA-1, RA-2, RA-3, MH or MHP zones. A conditional use in a residential zone must also be inside the STRO. Uses not listed as permitted or conditional are prohibited.

Homes in a short-term rental planned unit development (SRPUD) or mixed-use planned unit development (MUPUD) inside the STRO may be rented short-term if the City approved them for that use during the planned development approval. An SRPUD must also have an STRO classification unless it was created before the STRO rules. New SRPUD zoning follows the City's rezoning procedure.

A dwelling approved for short-term rental use before the STRO rules were created may continue while that approval remains in effect. The code says the STRO is not intended to deny the continued use of short-term rentals where previously approved; legally existing short-term rentals are treated as nonconforming uses.

The non-residential schedule of uses (Table 4-2) has no short-term rental or time-share row, and the code says uses not expressly listed as permitted or conditional are prohibited. Confirm with the City's Development Services before renting a dwelling short-term in a commercial, downtown or other non-residential zone.

New short-term rental and time-share developments need at least two acres and 12 dwelling units, direct access to a collector or arterial road, a common-area buffer at least 15 feet wide with dense vegetation or a wall at least six feet high next to areas not approved for short-term rentals, and a property owners' association that maintains the buffers. Sales contracts must state in bold red type that lots may be used for short-term rentals, and applicable city, county and state licenses must be obtained.

Existing dwellings cannot be converted to short-term rental use unless at least 80% of the owners in the development (or a stricter share set by the property's own rules, such as association documents) show they accept the conversion in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney.

The City says all businesses in the City of Kissimmee must have both a City of Kissimmee and an Osceola County business tax receipt, and the County requires proof of the City receipt before issuing its own.

Osceola County charges a 6% tourist development tax on the total rent for stays of less than six months, including single-family homes and condominiums. The person receiving the rent must remit it, and separately stated mandatory charges such as cleaning and resort fees are taxable. The Department of Revenue's rate table lists Osceola's 6% tax as collected by the county, and the County Tax Collector administers it.

Osceola County's total discretionary sales surtax is 1.5%, charged on top of the 6% state sales tax: a 1% surtax effective September 1, 1990 through December 31, 2045 and a 0.5% surtax effective January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2036.

Florida Statutes § 509.032(7)(b) says a local law, ordinance or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how long or how often they are rented. Local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011 are exempt from this limit, so some older local rules on rental length can still apply. Section 509.032(7)(a) also reserves the regulation of public lodging establishments (sanitation, inspections and similar matters) to the state, while local governments keep building-code and fire-code inspections. Local governments can still require registration and set other rules that do not ban rentals or limit their length or frequency.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels and Restaurants, licenses vacation rentals. A license is needed when an entire unit is rented more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or when the unit is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests. Houses, townhouses and buildings of up to four units take a Vacation Rental – Dwelling license; condominium and cooperative units take a Vacation Rental – Condominium license. Renting single rooms rather than the whole unit does not need a DBPR license, though local rules may still apply. Current licenses must be displayed in a conspicuous place on the premises.

New DBPR vacation rental applications pay a $50 application fee, a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee and a license fee. For a single rental unit the full-year license fee is $170 (half-year $90); group licenses for 2 to 25 units are $180 (half-year $95), with higher tiers for more units. Renewals pay the $10 education fee plus the full-year license fee. Renewal and half-year dates depend on the county's DBPR district.

Anyone who rents, leases, lets or grants a license to use transient accommodations must register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect, report and remit sales tax.

Florida's 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable county discretionary sales surtax, applies to rent paid for living, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations rented for six months or less.

Counties (and certain cities) may add a local option transient rental tax, such as a tourist development tax, on rentals of six months or less, on top of the 6% state sales tax and any surtax. The Department of Revenue's rate table lists each county's rate and who collects it. Most counties administer the tax themselves, and in those counties it is reported and paid directly to the county rather than to the state.