Short-term rentals in Muskegon, explained properly.

Sec. 10-353(c) requires the business registration only 'if the owner has more than three short-term vacation rental establishments.' The business registration is issued by the city clerk, and the certificate of short-term vacation rental registration by the director of public safety; both follow the procedures of Sec. 50-43 for denial, suspension or revocation (Sec. 10-353(l)). Sec. 50-43 and the business registration rules in Chapter 50 are not on this page.

Sec. 10-353(c) names advertising for lease alongside operating, conducting, maintaining and managing. Sec. 10-353(b) defines 'business activity' as the advertising for lease or rental of any structure for a short-term vacation rental.

Secs. 10-353(e) and (f). Registration fees not paid within 30 days of the due date carry a late fee, and a municipal civil infraction violation may be issued each day after May 31 until the registration is submitted and fees are paid (Sec. 10-353(g)).

Sec. 10-353(d)(1) to (4). Corporate applicants list each officer, partnerships list all partners and limited liability companies list all members. The application goes to the director of public safety or a designee on a prescribed form.

Sec. 10-353(g) says the fee for the certificate and for annual renewals is set by City Commission resolution. The City may use the fee only for expenses relating to issuance of the certificate and for purchasing amenities in City parks likely to be used by tenants of short-term vacation rentals; fees not spent within the fiscal year are held in a separate City account for that purpose. The current fee amount and its effective date are not on this page, so confirm the fee with the City.

Sec. 10-353(g), added by Ord. No. 2401 (3-12-2019). After six months all fees and late fees are due. The late fee is stated in the ordinance itself; the base registration fee is set by resolution and is not on this page.

Sec. 10-353(h).

Sec. 10-353(i)(1). The section also requires that all personal property taxes and outstanding debts to the City (inspection and property service fees, water and sewer bills, municipal civil infraction fines for the business or premises, and current special assessment installments, but not real property or income taxes) be paid in full at issuance or renewal (Sec. 10-353(i)(4)). This page does not total State and local taxes.

Secs. 10-353(i)(2) and (j)(1). Special conditions suited to short-term vacation rentals are to be promulgated by the City, approved by the City Commission and attached to or printed on the registration, and must be uniform for all short-term vacation rentals (Sec. 10-353(j)(2)). Those conditions are not on this page.

Sec. 10-353(i)(3).

Sec. 10-353(j)(2). Noncompliance may result in a civil infraction for the renter, owner or both, and in revocation of the certificate.

Sec. 10-353(k). On a proposed revocation or suspension the holder must give the City reasonable opportunity for inspection.

Sec. 10-353(b). A short-term vacation rental unit is a dwelling unit used for at least one short-term rental within a calendar year. The definition excludes transitional houses run by a charitable organization, group homes such as nursing homes, adult foster care homes, substance abuse rehabilitation clinics, mental health facilities and similar health care facilities. The definition of 'family' in the same subsection is used to separate rooming-house arrangements from a family household.

Sec. 10-353(l). Sec. 50-43 is not on this page, so the steps, grounds and appeal rights are not shown here. Sec. 10-353(j)(2) names revocation as a possible consequence of bringing campers, recreational vehicles or tents onto a rental.

MCL 205.93a(1)(b) lists "rooms or lodging" among the services taxed under the Use Tax Act, and defines "hotel" or "motel" to include inns, tourist homes, lodging houses, resort lodges and cabins, and "any other building or group of buildings in which accommodations are available to the public," except accommodations rented for a continuous period of more than 1 month. MCL 205.93(1) sets the combined tax at 6% of the price of the services specified in section 3a. The saved text of both sections is complete. Whether an individual who rents out a home, directly or through a booking platform, is a person furnishing accommodations "available to the public on the basis of a commercial and business enterprise" isn't answered by that text; the Department of Treasury's guidance on short-term rentals wasn't available to us, so confirm with the Department of Treasury. The General Sales Tax Act section we saved (MCL 205.52) is a 6% tax on retail sales of tangible personal property. This page does not total state and local taxes.

The saved section refers to the definition of a marketplace facilitator in section 5c, which wasn't saved. It applies to transactions on or after October 1, 2018. Confirm with the Michigan Department of Treasury and the platform whether tax is collected on a given booking.

These statements come from the titles and section lists of the two acts; the section text (rates, exemptions, the definition of a transient-guest business and any voter approval) wasn't saved, and whether any local tax or assessment applies at a given address hasn't been reviewed. Act 263 was amended in 2024 (Act 35, effective April 2, 2024).

The Zoning Enabling Act is described in its title as codifying the laws on local units of government regulating the development and use of land and providing for the adoption of zoning ordinances, with articles on zoning authorization, adoption and enforcement, special zoning provisions and the zoning board of appeals. Its section text, any pending state bills, and Michigan court rulings on short-term rentals and zoning haven't been reviewed.