Ordinance 2019-4245 ORDINANCE NO. 2019-4245
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 102 OF THE
CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, ENTITLED "TAXATION," BY
AMENDING ARTICLE V, ENTITLED "LOCAL BUSINESS TAX," BY
AMENDING SECTION 102-387 THEREOF, ENTITLED "HOSTING
PLATFORMS' RESPONSIBILITIES REGARDING LEGALLY
PERMISSIBLE TRANSIENT RENTAL AND OCCUPANCY (SHORT
TERM) OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY," BY CLARIFYING THAT
HOSTING PLATFORMS THAT INTEGRATE GEOFENCING OR
GEOCODING WITHIN THEIR ONLINE PLATFORMS MUST STILL
COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS IN SUBSECTION 102-387(A); AND,
PROVIDING FOR REPEALER, SEVERABILITY, CODIFICATION, AND
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS,the City of Miami Beach (the"City") is considered an internationally renowned
tourist destination; and
WHEREAS, property owners of single and multi-family residence(s) or unit(s) continue to
unlawfully engage in the transient rental and occupancy of residences and units in violation of the
Code of the City of Miami Beach (the "City Code"), which creates excessive numbers of guests,
vehicles, and noise, and cause inappropriate adverse impacts on the surrounding residences and
residential neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, the City has a substantial interest in ensuring and maintaining the aesthetics,
character, and tranquility of its residential neighborhoods, as well as ensuring compliance with
those City Codes regarding these commercial activities, and the following narrowly tailored
provisions directly advance these City interests; and
WHEREAS, owners of residential properties or units seeking to engage in the transient
rental or occupancy of such properties or units will be legally required to provide their City
Business Tax Receipt Number and Resort Tax Certification Number on any listings advertising
their property; and
WHEREAS, hosting platforms, advertisement platforms, or short-term residential rental
advertisement platforms will be legally required to disclose those residential rental listings that
include the City Business Tax Receipt Number and Resort Tax Certification Number; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that the following amendment is consistent with
and furthers the public health, safety, and welfare of the City, and must be adopted to codify the
intent of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. That Section 102-387 of Article V of Chapter 102 of the Code of the City of Miami
Beach is hereby amended as follows:
CHAPTER 102
TAXATION
ARTICLE V. Local Business Tax
Sec. 102-387. Platforms' Responsibilities Regarding Legally Permissible Transient Rental
and Occupancy (Short-Term) of Residential Property.
Prohibitions for publishing property listings on hosting platforms, advertisement platforms or short-
term residential rental advertisement platforms; Requiring Business Tax Receipt Number and
Resort Tax Certificate Number.
A. Each platform under this Article V, Section 102-387 will not list, or permit any person to
list, any short-term residential rental on its platform, unless the platform:
(1) Posts a notice, in a conspicuous place on its website, advising short-term residential
rental providers and property owners that such providers are required under this Article
V, Section 102-386 to obtain a City-issued business tax receipt and a resort tax
registration certificate in order to list a rental property on a hosting platform,
advertisement platform or a short-term residential rental advertising platform; and
(2) Must dDisplays the property owner's City-issued business tax receipt number and
resort tax registration certificate number for each listing that appears on a short-term
residential rental advertising platform, hosting platform or advertisement platform.
B. Penalties and enforcement.
(1) A violation of this section shall be subject to the following fines:
a. If the violation is the first offense, a person or business shall receive a
civil fine of$1,000.00;
b. If the violation is the second violation within the preceding six months, a
person or business shall receive a civil fine of$2,000.00;
c. If the violation is the third violation within the preceding six months, a
person or business shall receive a civil fine of$3,000.00; and
d. If the violation is the fourth or subsequent violation within the preceding
six months, a person or business shall receive a civil fine of$5,000.00.
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(2) Enforcement. The Code Compliance Department shall enforce this section. This
shall not preclude other law enforcement agencies from any action to assure
compliance with this section and all applicable laws. If a violation of this section is
observed, the Code enforcement officer will be authorized to issue a notice of
violation. The notice shall inform the violator of the nature of the violation, amount
of fine for which the violator is liable, instructions and due date for paying the fine,
that the violation may be appealed by requesting an administrative hearing before
a special master within ten (10) days after service of the notice of violation, and
that the failure to appeal the violation within ten (10) days of service shall constitute
an admission of the violation and a waiver of the right to a hearing.
(3) Rights of violators; payment of fine; right to appear; failure to pay civil fine or to
appeal; appeals from decisions of the special master.
a. A violator who has been served with a notice of violation must elect to either:
i. pay the civil fine in the manner indicated on the notice of violation; or
H. request an administrative hearing before a special master to appeal the
notice of violation, which must be requested within ten (10) days of the
service of the notice of violation.
b. The procedures for appeal by administrative hearing of the notice of violation
shall be as set forth in sections 30-72 and 30-73 of this Code. Applications for
hearings must be accompanied by a fee as approved by a resolution of the city
commission, which shall be refunded if the named violator prevails in the
appeal.
c. If the named violator, after issuance of the notice of violation, fails to pay the
civil fine, or fails to timely request an administrative hearing before a special
master, the special master may be informed of such failure by report from the
Code enforcement officer. The failure of the named violator to appeal the
decision of the Code enforcement officer within the prescribed time period shall
constitute a waiver of the violator's right to an administrative hearing before the
special master, and shall be treated as an admission of the violation, for which
fines and penalties shall be assessed accordingly.
d. A certified copy of an order imposing a fine may be recorded in the public
records, and thereafter shall constitute a lien upon any real or personal
property owned by the violator, which may be enforced in the same manner as
a court judgment by the sheriffs of this state, including levy against the
violator's real or personal property, but shall not be deemed to be a court
judgment except for enforcement purposes. On or after the sixty-first(61st) day
following the recording of any such lien that remains unpaid, the City may
foreclose or otherwise execute upon the lien.
e. Any party aggrieved by a decision of a special master may appeal that decision
to a court ofcompetent jurisdiction.
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f. The special master shall be prohibited from hearing the merits of the notice of
violation or considering the timeliness of a request for an administrative hearing
if the violator has failed to request an administrative hearing within ten (10)
days of the service of the notice of violation.
g. The special master shall not have discretion to alter the penalties prescribed
in subsection B (1).
C. Exceptions. This section Penalties listed in subsection (B)(1) shall not apply to:
1) Any platforms that integrate geofencing or geocoding within their respective mobile or
web-based applications that prohibit property owners from listing those properties that are
within a zoning district that prohibits short-term rentals.
2) Platforms that integrate geofencing or geocoding within their respective mobile or web-
based applications must still comply with the provisions of subsection (A) herein.
2) 21 Enforcement. The exceptions set forth herein shall be valid, provided that the hosting
platform submits a certificate to the Code Compliance Department of the City of Miami Beach,
verifying that the geofencing or geocoding is active and effective. The Certificate must be
submitted to the City on the first day of each month, unless the first day of the month falls on
a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday.
a. Any hosting platform that knowingly submits a false certification of an active and
effective geocode or geofence to the City shall be punished in accordance with
Section 1-14 of the City Code.
b. A hosting platform will not be held in violation of this section in an event of a
property owner providing a false address that falls within a zoning district that
allows short-term rentals and after booking, personally directing the guest to a
different property located within a zoning district that prohibits short-term rentals.
However, in an event that a hosting platform discovers the falsity of the provided
property address, it must disclose the falsity and the identity of the property owner
to the City within 15 days of the discovery. Should the hosting platform fail to
disclose property owner's misconduct, the hosting platform shall be punished in
accordance with Section 1-14 of the City Code.
c. Any person or property owner who knowingly commits the act described in 102-
387(C)(2)(b) or any other act done to bypass a hosting platform's geofencing or
geocoding in order to list properties within a zoning district that prohibits short-term
rentals, shall be punished in accordance with Section 1-14 of the City Code.
SECTION 2. REPEALER.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
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SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY.
If any section, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance is held invalid, the
remainder shall not be affected by such invalidity.
SECTION 4. CODIFICATION.
It is the intention of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, and it is
hereby ordained that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made part of the Code
of the City of Miami Beach, Florida. The sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or re-
lettered to accomplish such intention, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section,"
article," or other appropriate word.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall take effect on the .23 day of Ft brcfcr r y , 2019.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this /3 day of / bruary , 2019.
ATTEST:
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Attorney Date
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Ordinances - R5 K
IAMI BEAH
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Raul J.Aguila, City Attorney
DATE: February 13, 2019
1:50 p.m. Second Reading Public Hearing
SUBJECT:AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 102 OF THE CODE
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, ENTITLED "TAXATION," BY AMENDING
ARTICLE V, ENTITLED "LOCAL BUSINESS TAX," BYAMENDING SECTION
102-387 THEREOF, ENTITLED "HOSTING PLATFORMS'
RESPONSIBILITIES REGARDING LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE TRANSIENT
RENTAL AND OCCUPANCY (SHORT TERM) OF RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY," BY CLARIFYING THAT HOSTING PLATFORMS THAT
INTEGRATE GEOFENCING OR GEOCODING WITHIN THEIR ONLINE
PLATFORMS MUST STILL COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS IN
SUBSECTION 102-387(A); AND, PROVIDING FOR REPEALER,
SEVERABILITY, CODIFICATION,AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
RECOMMENDATION
Pursuant to the request of Mayor Dan Gelber, the above-referenced Ordinance is submitted for
consideration by the City Commission at the January 16, 2019 Commission meeting.
Legislative Tracking
Office of the City Attorney
Sponsor
Mayor Dan Gelber
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
D Ordinance
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