Tuesday, Kingston council deferred its decision on how much to charge those who defy short-term rental regulations.
Several months ago, the city instituted a licensing system that would require hosts using programs like Airbnb to license their rental property.
A quick search of a site like Airbnb shows more than 200 properties available to rent short-term, but so far, only 44 owners have actually applied for a licence from the city, and only half have received one.
The licence itself only costs $180 a year, but currently, those in violation of the short-term licensing regulations could face fines under the Provincial Offences Act that run from $500 to $10,000 a day, and could mean a trip to court at a cost to the taxpayer.
Tuesday night, council discussed instituting a much lower set fine for violations under the new city bylaw that could be paid just like most other tickets issued by the city, without a trip to court.
Staff originally recommended that these violations run between $250 and $500.
Council voted to defer the matter until early November to give staff the opportunity to look into exactly how much those set fines should be.
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