We need your help as the battle continues for our residential property rights. You can donate to the legal fund to fight the government overreach here. 

A summary of our concerns is available here. 

In order to prevent a discriminatory zone and illegal taxation of short-term rentals (STR aka AirBnB), the Niagara Falls Tourist Home Association is collecting funds to pursue legal action. 

Tourism, the #1 industry and economic driver in Niagara Falls, is under attack by City officials. The Niagara Falls City Council is preparing to vote on Wednesday, Jan 19, 2022, on another proposed STR ordinance despite there being no evidence of STR issues within the city and zero enforcement of the current ordinance. The proposed ordinance prevents property owners outside of the specified zone from renting for less than 28 days.

The proposed ordinance also requires occupancy and state sales taxes to be paid even though state laws exempt whole-house vacation rentals from either tax. The city is aware that it can not collect these taxes because the state did not approve the city’s request to make them applicable to STRs. After several owners learned they were exempt, they requested refunds, which the city did provide but to those who requested it. Meanwhile, STR owners still continue to receive occupancy tax bills/letters from the city and the proposed ordinance states that all  “applicable” state and occupancy taxes be paid in an effort to continue to deceive owners and collect revenue.

Additionally, instead of using the cities finite resources to focus on real issues like crime and slumlords, the administration has spent the last 2 years implementing STR moratoriums, drafting new ordinances (including the one that we defeated in Sept of 2020), and ignoring the public comments which were resoundingly clear and against the proposed ordinance. 

NFTHA’s mission is to provide tourists with safe and reputable short-term rental options when they visit Niagara Falls. We never thought we'd have to resort to a legal battle to achieve this, but the City Council has gone so far as to change one of the safeguards we had - the City's Charter requirement for a unanimous vote when both County and City Planning Boards do not approve proposals.

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Thank you for helping us take a stand against government overreach!