Santa Fe STRA Fall Update
We’ve got some exciting news for Santa Fe hosts and managers! The Santa Fe Short-Term Rental Alliance has now officially incorporated as a 501c6. Additionally, we have partnered with Rent Responsibly, a national organization supporting other advocacy organizations that will provide the administrative and technical support to help the SFSTRA achieve its advocacy, organizational, and other membership benefits. Our mission is to represent Santa Fe (both City and County) hosts managers and other STR stakeholders to advocate and protect our rights to continue to rent our homes responsibly. We started our advocacy work in 2020, and now, with our newly established organization, we are looking forward to continuing to advocate on your behalf.
Also, since many of you are following the developments in the County, we want to let you know that we are a distinct organization from the STR Fellowship of Santa Fe County. That organization is specifically focused on responding to the County’s short-term rental requirements. Our organization, the SFSTRA Alliance, is supportive of the efforts of the Fellowship, and we expect to continue to work with them and update our membership on developments in the County.
In addition to forming our organization and board, since 2020, we’ve:
- Participated in several hearings regarding the 2021 ordinance change, presenting data on how short-term rentals positively impact the Santa Fe economy
- Testified to the City during the 2021 ordinance process, which resulted in the removal of the 7-day rule between mid-November and mid-January
- Met with city officials to clarify reporting and other requirements
- Met with candidates for City Council and the Mayor’s office to represent our community
- Hosted numerous webinars, including one on how to better present your short-term rental
- Worked with major rental platforms
- Hosted a few events, including a get-together with other hosts and managers
- Participated in several meetings with County officials on their new requirements.
We know advocacy will remain critical as the City and County are exploring further changes to the requirements. We plan to continue these efforts with particular focus on:
- Replacing the 7-day rule with an annual cap on the number of rentals
- Meeting with City Council candidates to let them know that we are responsible, benefit our community, and will support candidates who understand our contributions to the community
- Meeting with City and County officials to be part of the policy-making process
- Protesting new regulatory requirements that are counter to our interests.
County’s Reclassification of Short-Term Rentals
Of particular note, we all need to advocate against the County Tax Assessor’s office plans to reclassify short-term rentals, both in the City and the County, from residential to non-residential or commercial for property tax determination. This will impact everyone’s property tax rate because it will trigger a current market assessment (most likely result in a significant property tax increase) and remove the 3% tax increase cap.
Learn more about the tax increase cap >
We’ll be providing more information soon on what you can expect as a member of SF STRA, as well as our official membership launch in November. Stay tuned!
Save the Date: Holiday Member Party
📆Thursday, Nov. 30
🕒5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
📍633 Garcia St, Santa Fe, NM
Join the Santa Fe STRA as we celebrate the holidays and our official membership launch! Come and network with other Santa Fe hosts and managers and meet the board of the Santa Fe STRA. During this event, we’ll also provide the following:
- What you can expect as a member and an overview of benefits
- How you can get more involved with the alliance
- What the Santa Fe STRA plans to focus on in 2024
This free event is for members and those thinking about joining the alliance who want to stay updated on the latest STR updates in Santa Fe. We’ll also provide light refreshments.
In the meantime, here’s what you can do to support the SFSTRA:
- RSVP for the Holiday Member Party
- Join our Facebook group
- Tell other short-term rental owners and managers about our organization
- Learn more about the County’s plan to reclassify all Santa Fe short-term rentals