Short-term rentals in Sheffield, explained properly.

The application must list a local contact person with a telephone number that works 24 hours a day (Sec. 50-175(d)(3)). The operator must make that number available to the revenue officer and it must be able to produce a response within one hour to complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of occupants; failure of the operator, an employee or an agent to respond to the complainant within one hour is a violation of the chapter (Sec. 50-175(h)(4)).

The permit application must include approval from the fire inspector (Sec. 50-175(d)(6)). The operator must comply with all safety regulations in the fire and building codes adopted by the City and/or the State of Alabama as determined by the fire marshal and building official, who may develop and enforce guidelines on methods of compliance (Sec. 50-175(g)(1)). The operator is also responsible for ensuring that the rental complies with state, county and city ordinances related to disasters and for the safety of guests (Sec. 50-175(f)(2)).

Sec. 50-175(e)(1) lets the revenue officer, building official and/or fire marshal impose reasonable conditions, in addition to the chapter's requirements, designed to protect public health, safety and welfare, in connection with issuance or on renewal of a permit. They may also do so at any time during a license period for a rental that has been the subject of repeated complaints of violations of the chapter.

Sec. 50-175(f)(1) requires the operator to comply with all City of Sheffield ordinances that pertain to the collection of lodging taxes, including timely remittance and reporting. A rate is not shown in this section, and the City's lodging tax chapter was not among the pages read.

Sec. 50-175(h)(1) requires the operator to post a copy of the permit in a conspicuous place within the short-term residential rental unit.

Under Sec. 50-175(h)(2), occupant vehicles are to be parked on site and not in the adjacent public right-of-way unless on-street parking is available and the norm for the area. In residential zones where on-street parking is marked, occupant vehicles may use only the spaces immediately adjacent to the property. No recreational vehicles, buses, boats or trailers may be stored on the street or forward of the front property line of the STR property. No commercial vehicles are permitted on the property or parked in the adjacent public right-of-way, except where otherwise permitted by zoning regulations.

Sec. 50-175(h)(3): the use of any radio receiver, stereo, musical instrument, sound amplifier or similar device that produces, reproduces or amplifies sound shall take place only within an enclosed short-term residential rental unit. The property owner or operator must use reasonably prudent business practices to ensure occupants and guests do not create unreasonable noise or disturbances. Clock-hour quiet hours are not shown in this section.

Sec. 50-175(h)(5): trash and refuse shall not be left or stored in public view, except in proper containers for the purpose of collection in accordance with City ordinances. The owner of the property or manager of the rental unit is responsible for notifying occupants of trash disposal procedures and for maintaining compliance with city ordinances.

Sec. 50-175(h)(6): no short-term residential rental unit may be rented for the purpose of holding weddings, parties, receptions or similar events that typically are held at a banquet facility or other facility made available for events on a commercial basis. Any use of the unit is limited to activities that are incidental to its use for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.

Sec. 50-175(h)(7) provides that no on-premises signage legible from any right-of-way may advertise the short-term residential rental unit.

Sec. 50-175(i)(1): the operator must notify the revenue officer of any change in property ownership or management, or any other material change in the information described in the license application, permit(s) and set forth in the City Business License Ordinance. Notice must be made within 15 days after the change has occurred, and the revenue officer may require a new application for a business license and new permit(s) if the changes warrant it.

Sec. 50-175(j)(1): violations of the chapter and/or validated complaints about a rental are cause for suspension or revocation of the permit by the revenue officer, and the revenue officer's decisions may be appealed to the city council. Under (j)(2) the revenue officer may refer the business license to the city council for revocation in connection with flagrant or repeated violations. Renewal or a new license application may be denied if the licensee or applicant has been found guilty of, or determined in a civil proceeding to be in violation of, any provision of the chapter. If a business license is revoked, all permits under it are revoked at the same time.

Sec. 50-175(k)(1) names officers of the police department, fire inspectors, the revenue officer and building officials as authorized to enforce the chapter. A fine amount is not shown in this section; the City's general penalty provision was not among the pages read.

Section 40-26-1 of the Code of Alabama levies a privilege or license tax on every person in the business of renting or furnishing rooms, lodging or accommodations to transients in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration. The rate is 5% of the charge in the 16 counties of the Alabama mountain lakes area (Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston) and 4% in every other county, and the charge includes any charge for personal property and services furnished in the room. The tax does not apply to rooms, lodgings or accommodations supplied for 180 continuous days or more. The Alabama Department of Revenue says lodgings tax is collected through an account at My Alabama Taxes, and that counties and cities may add their own lodgings taxes of between 1% and 13%, some collected by the Department, some by third-party administrators and some by the local government itself. Local lodgings taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 40-26-1.1 of the Code of Alabama (the Alabama Tourism Tax Protection Act of 2024, Act 2024-334) says an accommodations intermediary, meaning a business other than the owner that facilitates a lodging transaction and charges the guest a room or accommodations fee it keeps as compensation, must collect and remit the state lodgings tax and parallel local levies for transactions on or after January 1, 2025. The tax is charged on the room charge, the full retail price the guest pays including any fees. When the intermediary handles the booking for an accommodations provider (an owner with an active lodgings tax account who collects and remits the tax), the tax collected may be remitted to the provider if an executed written agreement says who remits it, and the intermediary is then not liable for tax the provider fails to remit. The intermediary must state the tax separately on the bill. Where the owner has hired a licensed professional property management company, that company is the merchant of record. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same rules. Which local lodgings taxes a platform collects in a given place is not stated in these sources; check with the platform and the local tax office.

Section 40-26-1.1(g) requires every accommodations intermediary and accommodations provider to submit an annual report, in a form set by the Department of Revenue, listing the physical address of each accommodation rented or furnished for more than 14 days during the previous year; the report is confidential taxpayer information. Exempt are licensed professional property management companies that collect and remit the state lodgings tax (or manage homes leased for a month or more as the tenant's principal residence), hotels that collect and remit the tax, tourism marketing organizations funded by the tax, and marina, tent camping and RV providers that collect and remit it. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same reporting rule and exemptions.