Borger staff to enforce hotel-occupancy taxes on short-term rentals after new software identifies listings

City staff told the Borger City Council that new visual-recognition software has made it possible to identify short-term rental listings and begin enforcing the city’s hotel-occupancy tax on hosts.

Bradley said the software can locate property listings even when a rental platform does not supply an address. “Airbnb’s generated almost $500,000 in revenue last year,” Bradley said, adding that equates to “about $40,000 in hotel occupancy tax that should have been paid.” He said only about $6,000 of that tax had been collected previously.

Officials framed the enforcement as a matter of fairness, saying hotels and short-term rentals are subject to the same tax and should compete on a level playing field. Bradley said the city does not intend to discourage short-term rentals but wants consistent compliance with existing rules.

The item was presented as an informational update; staff did not present a new ordinance during the meeting but warned council members they may receive public feedback as enforcement begins. The council did not take a separate vote on a regulatory change during the reported discussion.

The city did not provide a timeline for audits or the total number of listings identified; staff said enforcement is starting now that identification is possible and that further details will be provided if formal enforcement actions or code changes are proposed.