Capital Improvement Sales Tax extension; short-term rentals; and a 1 Mlllion Cups celebration.

Columbia’s police and fire departments are relying on a ten-year extension of the existing capital improvement sales tax that city officials say is vital for maintaining and improving crucial infrastructure. Voters will decide Tuesday, August 6, whether to extend the quarter-cent sales tax that is set to expire at the end of December. 

If extended, the sales tax is projected to generate some $83 million over the next ten years. Total needs are estimated to cost $125.8 million. City officials say the remaining costs will be covered by development fees, use fees, and the county road tax funds. 

At a quick glance, here’s what the existing ¼-cent sales tax will help fund in the next ten years:

• The completion of the second floor of the Molly Bowden Neighborhood Policing Center in north Columbia; a new facilities study to determine the needs of the downtown police headquarters (which was built in 1933); and expansion of CPD’s evidence storage capacity. Total cost is estimated at $16 million. 
• Construction of Columbia Fire Department Station 10 at East Broadway/WW and Chaparral Avenue South, in addition to the fire trucks and equipment needed for the station. Total cost is estimated at $15.4 million. 
• Nearly 30 street and sidewalk improvement projects, totaling just more than $80 million. (Total public works projects, including streets and sidewalks, estimated at $94.3 million.) Take note that the city is responsible for 1,450 lane miles of streets. 

The city of Columbia has used the Capital Improvement Sales Tax to fund infrastructure and public safety projects beyond the scope of the city’s annual budget since 1991.  

Short-term rental regs get another look 

If there’s any question about confusion or the complexity of the short-term rental rules adopted by the City Council some months ago, consider that the final action before approving the regulations required an amendment to an amendment. And there was still puzzlement among those who see short-term rentals as an affordable housing issue and the property owners/Realtors who see short-term rentals from a business point of view. 

Short-term rentals are generally homes, apartments, rooms, or another part of a structure that the owner may list on Airbnb or Vrbo for guests looking for overnight lodging or an extended stay up to thirty days. Unlike a hotel room, those rentals might include the entire house: bedrooms, kitchen, and all amenities. Affordable housing advocates assert that those properties exacerbate the local housing crisis because it removes properties from available rental stock and may even contribute to an overall increase in rental rates. 

Two items came before the City Council on July 15, and a moratorium on requiring business licenses for short-term rentals will continue through July 1, 2026. The hot-button issue with that measure is that the business license rule would require additional insurance for short-term rentals. 

The second short-term rental item was the council’s decision to equate bed and breakfast and short-term rentals as a hotel or motel. That means those properties must now collect and remit the city’s lodging tax.

Stay tuned on the short-term rental conversations … 

Come One, Come All 

Columbia’s 1 Million Cups chapter was one of the first dozen such chapters in the U.S., and it celebrates its eleventh anniversary on August 14. 

The celebration event is set for 4-6 p.m. at Logboat Brewing Company at 504 Fay Street. The 1 Million Cups Facebook page says the event is designed to “celebrate another successful year of empowering entrepreneurs.” Logboat co-founder Tyson Hunt will talk about some of his entrepreneurial experiences while also providing tours of the brewery. The January Lanterns will provide musical entertainment. The anniversary event is free. 

1 Million Cups meets at 9 a.m. every Wednesday at the REDI Hub, 500 E. Walnut Street, Suite 105.