OPINION/LETTERS: Over regulating short-term rentals is a bad idea
Over regulating short-term rentals is a bad idea
Several bills are on the Statehouse floor involving Short-Term Rentals (STRs) that could impact the livelihood of Rhode Islanders. One bill allows a complete ban on STRs at a local level.
2022 statistics directly from Middletown police show 46 calls to STRs (only one for noise), 45 calls were related to trash, parking, and non-registration. In rare cases, rental homes are run poorly with a lack of regard for neighboring houses. This should be the area of focus for local governments. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I own/manage five island rental homes that service 3,000 tourists annually. I primarily cater to guests ages 30-60. Imagine the dollars each one of these tourists sprinkles into our local economy. They pay parking fees at our beaches and keep our favorite restaurants, shopping destinations, and tourism attractions in business. I employ a landscaper, handyman and two cleaning people.
Existing RI state law encouraged me to engage in this business. Now they want to take away what they approved by law. STR homes require little town resources. Compare a six-bedroom house with three children vs. a year-round rental home that provides lodging for a tourist family coming in for a wedding or vacation. Basic math for three kids at $21,457 per year (school) multiplied by 12 years of public education comes to $772,452 (one rental home impact). STRs decrease residents’ tax burden dramatically.
Are we going to throw away our $8 billion tourism industry? RI is a tourism destination and needs a mix of housing to satisfy all needs. Most that complain about short-term rentals are retired and wealthy. They have a “not in my backyard” mentality. None of them will admit they stay in rental homes when they go on vacation “good for me but not for thee” as they preach about made-up issues associated with STRs. They whoop up fear in town council meetings by citing emotional platitudes about how disruptive outsiders are in our community. The bitter tribalism they conjure is resentment and jealousy towards productive people participating in commerce, and intolerance of outsiders in their community.
The United States of America is a place where you are supposed to be able to buy real estate and participate in commerce with reasonable government regulation and oversight. Americans should be able to travel freely in their country and visit RI and stay in STRs with their family if that’s their preferred method of lodging. Town and state governments should stop micromanaging our lives and make our schools better, maintain our roads, and fund our teachers, police and fire departments.
Chris Sousa, Middletown
Pesare right choice for Middletown chief
Our Middletown Town Council directed our Administrator Shawn Brown and his staff to find the right person to be the next chief of the Middletown Police Department. Proudly; our former Chief of Police Anthony Pesare with multiple professional star accolades: to include - assistant town solicitor and prosecuting attorney for the town of Middletown - was chosen.
Without a doubt Chief Pesare has police cars- here, there, and everywhere…thus, making the legal statement: slow down and obey our/your laws!
With Middletown's proper use of equalized federal and state money - and coupled with Chief Pesare’s - “Slow Down Direction“…we all will be much safer and happier.
Carol A. Cummings, Middletown
Community Electricity Program coming to Newport
This May, Newport will be rolling out its Community Electricity Program, a program our Newport Energy & Environment Commission first brought to the attention of the City Council and staff back in 2019. I want to highlight a few exciting and positive aspects of the new program. In short, Newport is introducing more choice in energy supply to our residential, commercial and industrial electricity customers. We’ve been able to go out and secure new energy supply rates that are cheaper and include more electricity generated from renewable sources compared to the default energy supply offered by Rhode Island Energy. More info explaining how this works can be found at NewportCommunityElectricity.com.
I repeat: the new default electricity rate will be cheaper AND greener than the current standard RI Energy rate (28% of electricity generated from renewable sources compared to the mandatory 23% required of RI Energy). And for those that want to maximize savings, you can opt down to the “Newport Basic” option which is even cheaper. You can also opt up so that your electricity supply is being generated from 50% or 100% renewables. More information is on the website above, but if, for example, you use 500 kwH in a month and elect to opt up to the 100% renewable plan, your supply charge will only go up $15 per month compared to the standard default option. You can have all of your electricity sourced from renewable projects in New England for the cost of a monthly Netflix or HBO Max subscription. For those who can afford this, I urge you to consider opting up.
RI Energy is still charged with maintaining our electrical grid infrastructure and delivering electricity to your home or business. Your bills will still come from them and the delivery charges on your bill go directly to them. And if for whatever reason you want to stick with them as your supplier, you can do that, too, by opting out at the website above at any time without penalty.
Customers in the Low-Income Rate Class (A60) will continue to receive their current percentage discount on the entire electricity bill. Budget billing customers will continue to receive budget billing for the Delivery Services portion of the bill. And customers that receive solar electricity benefits from net metering credits and/or Renewable Energy Growth Program payments will continue to receive those benefits. I’m so pleased that we’ll be rolling out this program in May alongside other communities in Rhode Island, including Portsmouth and Providence. Thanks toall who have helped us in getting here.
Sean O’Connor, chair Newport Energy & Environment Commission
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: LETTERS: Over regulating short-term rentals is a bad idea
