Short-term rentals in Tybee Island, explained properly.

Sec. 4-051.3(F): every applicant pays a $200.00 base fee plus an occupancy fee based on the total occupancy disclosed in the application, charged for each person under these tiers: total occupancy of one to five persons, $10.00 per person; six to ten persons, $15.00 per person; ten or more persons, $20.00 per person (the text reads 'often or more'). The fee is non-refundable, accompanies the application and renews every January 1; if unpaid within 90 days it is subject to the delinquency and penalty provisions of Sec. 58-163 and the right to use the unit as an STR is revoked until the penalties and fee are paid. The occupation tax is paid in addition each year. The regulatory fee schedule in Sec. 58-179 (last amended by Ord. No. 2025-01, February 27, 2025) lists 'Short-term vacation rentals' at $100.00 per STVR unit. The two City sections give different amounts and neither shows an effective date for its figure, so the fee is under review and this page gives no total. The occupation tax amount and the City's current online fee notice were not available to read.

The application, initial or renewal, is valid when completed and filed with payment of the regulatory fee. The fee is due each January 1; if not paid within 90 days it is subject to the delinquency and penalty provisions of Sec. 58-163 and the right to use the unit for short-term rental is revoked until penalties and fee are paid (Sec. 4-051.3(A)). The renewal application must list current owners (and, for an entity, its members, partners, shareholders or beneficiaries) and, for 2025 and after, the transfers in the preceding period (Sec. 4-051.11(C)(1)).

Sec. 4-051.2(C): the application is on a form set by the city manager with a non-refundable occupational tax and regulatory fee, and includes the complete street address and parcel identification number; the name, address, email and telephone of each owner; the number of bedrooms, maximum occupancy and number and location of off-street parking spaces; the name, address and telephone of the agent or local emergency contact; any other information the chapter requires, such as zoning designation; and the emergency contact number. The city manager or designee may obtain additional information. All information supplied is subject to verification.

Sec. 4-051.2(B): the City must be notified in writing within seven days when there is a change in property ownership, management, agent or emergency contact, and failure to do so voids any permitted use as an STR. If the owner changes management company, the unit is to be re-identified by notice to the City (Sec. 4-051.3(E)).

Sec. 4-051.1(C): an owner is required to designate an agent for any short-term rental unit, who is responsible for complying with the section on the owner's behalf; the owner may be the agent. The owner or agent is not relieved of personal responsibility for noncompliance with any applicable law (Sec. 4-051.1(E)).

Sec. 4-051.1(D): the short-term rental agent is a local contact person who must be available at all times to respond to complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of occupants, customarily present at a location in the city for business, and responsible for taking remedial action to resolve issues within one hour. Sec. 4-052(B) defines 'authorized agent' as the owner's agent or designee normally available to respond to any issues within two hours and authorized to receive written notice. The two sections state different times; this page follows Sec. 4-051.1(D), the section that sets the agent's duties, and flags the difference for review.

Sec. 4-051.2(C)(3): occupancy is established with the application for every STR permit, with overnight occupancy limited to two adults per bedroom plus two additional adults for the dwelling identified as existing on the property. Any person over the age of 15 is an adult for this purpose. Occupancy beyond the limit in the permit is a violation, and marketing occupancy above the number in the application is also a violation that can lead to revocation or suspension (Sec. 4-051.9(B)).

Sec. 4-051.2(C)(7): the property must be covered by a homeowner's or other structural policy and liability coverage, and the insurance declaration must list the unit as rental property. The applicant acknowledges the requirement on the application and agrees to supply a copy of a conforming insurance declaration to the City within 30 days of receipt of an STR permit. Intentional misstatements in the application, including on insurance, are a violation (Sec. 4-051.9(C)).

Sec. 4-051.5: all one- and two-family STR units post a sign, visible and legible from the address side of the street, listing the emergency contact name and phone number (the STR agent unless staff approve otherwise). The sign is not less than 18 inches by 24 inches and not more than 24 inches by 24 inches, faces the street of the property address, and cannot be blocked by fencing, cars or vegetation. Multi-family units post an 8.5 by 11 inch sign visible from a publicly accessible area outside the unit, no further than four feet from the outer edge of the front entry door, and may have one additional exterior sign for advertising, branding and wayfinding that meets the one- and two-family standard. These rules control over the sign ordinance and over HOA or condominium association signage rules.

Sec. 4-051.6: each STR property or unit has a unique location identification number, and any advertising, promotion or notice of availability must include the number for every unit it covers. The rule covers brochures, marketing material and any online, digital, social media or published promotion. Leaving the number out is a violation punishable as otherwise provided in the Code.

Sec. 4-051.4: the City makes a list of STR good neighbor policies available on its website, which STR agents must share with their clients, owners and guests. Compliance with the good neighbor policy is also a condition of STR use outside R-1, R-1-B and R-2 (Sec. 4-052(D)). The list itself was not available to read, so this page does not reproduce it.

Sec. 4-051.7 makes the owner or agent responsible for paying all taxes required by Chapter 58, Article IV (room excise tax). Sec. 58-108 sets the rate at seven percent of taxable charges to the public for lodging accommodations, and Sec. 58-107 imposes the tax on rooms and lodgings furnished by persons licensed by or required to pay business or occupation taxes to the City. For an occupancy of more than 30 consecutive days, the tax applies to the first 30 days. Exemptions include stays by people displaced by fire or other casualty, government travelers with documentation, and stays without charge. The owner or agent collects the tax from the guest and gives a receipt showing the charge and the taxes. This page does not add the City tax to the State sales tax and the $5 State hotel-motel fee, because no official source read states how they stack.

Every innkeeper registers with the City on a form provided by the City, with a separate registration for each place of business, and the City issues a certificate of authority without charge (Sec. 58-110). Each innkeeper files a return and remits the tax by the 20th of each month for the preceding calendar month (Sec. 58-111(a)); an innkeeper whose estimated monthly liability exceeds $2,500 also prepays at least 50 percent by the 20th of the period (Sec. 58-111(b)). An innkeeper who collects the tax may deduct a collection fee of three percent of the tax due if the amount is not delinquent and no other City taxes, fees or assessments are delinquent (Sec. 58-112). Tax unpaid after the 20th is delinquent (Sec. 58-117). The penalty is five percent or $5.00, whichever is greater, for a failure of up to 30 days, plus the same for each additional 30 days, capped at 25 percent or $25.00, whichever is greater; a false or fraudulent return or willful failure to file carries a 50 percent penalty (Sec. 58-119). Failing to collect the tax is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $100.00 or up to three months in jail, or both (Sec. 58-120).

Sec. 4-051.3(C): failure to apply or identify as the ordinance prescribes results in a fine of $500.00 for each month the unit continues to operate without compliance. Separately, if the annual regulatory fee is unpaid after 90 days, the right to use the unit as an STR is revoked until penalties and fee are paid (Sec. 4-051.3(A)). Other violations are punishable as otherwise provided in the Code (for example Sec. 4-051.6); the general penalty section was not read.

Sec. 4-051.9(A): if taxes, license fees, fines or other assessments tied to the STR remain unpaid, or there is improper advertising or improper conduct violating the listed ordinances or rules, the City sends notice to the owner or designated agent. If the deficiency is not addressed within 30 days of receipt, after notice and an opportunity to be heard the City may determine the STR permit abandoned, and it may terminate and not be renewed. Advertising occupancy above the number in the application is a violation that may result in the permit being revoked, suspended or otherwise addressed by the city official or the mayor and council (Sec. 4-051.9(B)). Refusing to take part in a verification process, and intentional misstatements in the application including on insurance, are also violations (Sec. 4-051.9(C)).

Sec. 4-051.10: a verification program, run under a policy set by the mayor and council, covers all ordinance compliance requirements of the applicant, including insurance, zoning designation, parking site plan and occupancy. Sec. 4-051.11(C)(2): in an audit or investigation the City can research Chatham County, Georgia real property and ad valorem tax records, filings and applications by the owner, and information on Zillow or other public sources. The program policy itself was not available to read.

Georgia charges sales tax on accommodations. The state rate is 4%, and each county adds its own local sales taxes; the Georgia Department of Revenue publishes the combined rate for every county in a quarterly rate chart.

Georgia charges a $5.00 State Hotel-Motel Fee for each night an accommodation is rented, including short-term rentals. It is a flat amount per night, not a percentage of the rent, and is collected from the guest.

The $5 state fee does not apply once a stay becomes an extended stay: from the 31st day of uninterrupted occupancy by the same guest, the fee is no longer collected. If the guest checks out and checks back in, the count starts again.

If you list your home with an online booking platform that handles payment (a "marketplace innkeeper"), the platform must collect and remit the state hotel-motel fee for each night of those stays. For stays you book yourself, you collect and remit the fee.

Owners who collect the state hotel-motel fee must register on the Georgia Tax Center for a sales tax number and a state hotel-motel fee number, and file the fee return electronically by the 20th of the following month. A return is due every month, even when no rooms were rented and even if sales tax is filed quarterly or yearly.