6 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Bay County, Florida.
Verified from official government sources
Florida preempts local vacation-rental bans under Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b), so Bay County can't prohibit STRs or cap their length. Unincorporated Bay County (Ord. 23-18) and Panama City Beach instead require registration, a DBPR license, and safety inspections.
Fla. Stat. §509.032(7)(b)
A local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals. This paragraph does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011.
Vacation-rental guests follow the same noise rules as residents. In unincorporated Bay County that means the property-line decibel caps and 200-foot audibility limit of Sec. 17-72; owners and managers are jointly liable for a rental's noise.
Bay County Code Sec. 17-72(a) (Ord. No. 06-11)
It shall be unlawful for the owner of a parcel of real property or of a unit or units in a multi-unit building or buildings to cause, allow, permit or to continue a noise nuisance on said parcel or in said unit or units, or for any individual to cause a noise nuisance at any location.
A Bay County vacation rental owes about 12%: Florida's 6% state sales tax, a 1% county surtax, and Bay County's 5% Tourist Development Tax. Unlike most counties, Airbnb and Vrbo do NOT remit the local 5% - hosts must.
Fla. Stat. §212.03(1)(a)
For the exercise of such taxable privilege, a tax is hereby levied in an amount equal to 6 percent of and on the total rental charged for such living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations by the person charging or collecting the rental.
Florida sets no statewide street-parking time limit, so vacation-rental parking is governed locally. Panama City Beach and Bay County require hosts to disclose on-site parking and field complaints about overflow cars, a top spring-break issue in the beach's condo corridor.
Panama City Beach sets a maximum overnight occupancy for each vacation rental, based on its bedrooms, and posts it on the required interior information sign. Bay County's Ordinance 23-18 treats overcrowding as a complaint the responsible party must address.
Neither Bay County nor Panama City Beach requires vacation-rental hosts to carry a set amount of liability insurance. Florida's DBPR license and local certificate don't mandate coverage, but standard homeowner policies usually exclude short-term rental activity.
1 cities in Bay County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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