Happy Monday folks!

This week I was having a conversation with one of our members when he asked a simple question:

"Why do you care so much about STR advocacy?"

Honestly, I had to think about it for a second.

Why do I care so much?

The answer surprised me a little because it wasn't really about short-term rentals at all.

The truth is, I've never handled "that's not right" very well.

When I see someone cheating, taking advantage of people, stacking the deck in their favor, or using their position to bully others because they think they can get away with it... it bothers me. Always has.

I genuinely expect people to do the right thing.

Maybe that's naïve. But when something feels unfair, I have a hard time just shrugging and moving on.

Which brings me to Pocono Township.

Last year, the township voted to increase the annual TDU fee from $500 to $2,500 per unit.  No warning.  No public discussion about how they arrived at that number.  And as we've since learned, apparently, no meaningful research into whether a fee of that size could actually be justified.

Here's the thing many people don't realize: a fee isn't just a number a government can pick out of thin air. There must be actual costs associated with administering the program. The fee is supposed to reflect those costs.

So we filed a Right-to-Know request.

What we found was exactly what we expected.

Even using a heavily padded list of expenses attributed to the TDU program, the township's own numbers came out to roughly $1,350 per unit.

Not $2,500.

So when the commissioners saw the numbers, did they reduce the fee to $1,350?

Nope.

Did they reduce it to $1,500?

Still no.

Instead, through their lawyer they've proposed $1,800.

Why?

I honestly don't know.

Maybe they believe there are costs that weren't captured (PLEASE...).  Maybe they're trying to save face after approving such a dramatic increase.

Whatever the reason, the reality is that even their own data doesn't support the number they've landed on.

Which leads me to the part that gets me worked up.

We have spent months trying to find a reasonable solution because, frankly, the only guaranteed winners in a lawsuit are the lawyers.

We don't want to go to court.

But the township also knows something else.

They know that defending this fee won't personally cost the commissioners a dime. The township attorney is paid with taxpayer dollars. If this drags on for months or years, it's not coming out of their pockets.

For STR owners, it's different.

Owners have to organize.  They have to work together.  They have to raise significant amounts of money.  They have to be willing to endure a long legal process.

The township is betting they won't.

They're betting that even if they're in the wrong & the STR owners are in the right, fighting back will simply be too difficult, too expensive, and too exhausting.

That's what bothers me.

Not just the fee itself.

The imbalance.  

The assumption that they can proceed down a path, not because they know they're in the right, but because they know the other side probably won't be able to fight back.

That's exactly why the Poconos VRO exists.

Not because we enjoy conflict.

Not because we wake up looking for fights.

But because sometimes someone has to stand up and say, "No. That's not right."

We're still hopeful that Pocono Township's commissioners will ultimately do the right thing.  We would much rather shake hands than file lawsuits.

But if they refuse to correct an unjustified fee?

Then we'll do what we exist to do.

We'll stand with owners.

And if necessary, we'll see them in court.

— Rebecca

PS - What can YOU do?  Join the Poconos VRO.  Donate to our Advocacy efforts.  Join the Poconos Township Litigation Group.