Lower Township Rental Fees to be Due March 15

VILLAS – Lower Township Council introduced legislation to change the timeline for paying rental license fees to the township. 
The council introduced an ordinance Nov. 7 to change the due date to pay for a Rental Unit Mercantile License, from July 15 to March 15. In the existing ordinance, the license fees for short-term rentals were due July 15, meaning the license was good until July 14 of the following year. 
Ordinance 2022-12, introduced on first reading, modified the township code to read that licenses will be issued on March 15 and cover the year up to March 14 of the next year. 
Mayor Frank Sippel said the change is being instituted to make work easier for the clerk’s office, processing the licenses in the spring rather than mid-summer. At last count, the clerk’s office had to process about 750 yearly rental licenses. Township Clerk Julie Picard said it would also make things easier on the renters because they will have taken care of fire inspections and license fees at the beginning of the year. 
For those who paid for a license on July 15, 2022, the fee covers the time period through July 14, 2023, but the new licensing period begins on March 15, 2023. To avoid overpayment, the township will prorate the new license fee, reducing the fee by one-third. Under the ordinance change, the rental license fee will be past due after April 15, and subject to a $75 late fee.
Currently, anyone operating a hotel or motel pays a rental license fee of $4 per room or $75, whichever is greater. Those renting rooms in apartment houses, rooming houses, or boarding houses pay $4 per room or $50, whichever is greater. Retirement homes pay $75 or $4 per room whichever is greater, and properties with trailers or cabins pay $4 per unit or $50, whichever is greater.
Structures that contain one or more separate furnished or unfurnished units and are rented for less than 175 consecutive days will be charged based on potential occupancy: $150 for 1 to 6 permitted occupants; $240 for 7 to 11 permitted occupants; and $325 for 12 to 16 permitted occupants. 
Commercial rentals pay an additional $75 rental fee above the mercantile license.