Battle Creek, MI Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Section 818.05 sets who charges the fees and how they are collected. The City Community Services Department, or another official designated by the City Manager, charges the fees for the application, the permit and the inspections required by Chapter 818, and those fees are prescribed in the fee, bond, and insurance schedule provided for in Section 802.24. Section 802.24 in turn directs the City Commission to enact that schedule by resolution, so the dollar figures change by Commission action rather than by amending the ordinance. The text of § 818.05 prints no dollar amount.

Collection is backed by several remedies. The City can enforce payment by any lawful means, including a civil suit, an order to show cause, a lien assessed against the dwelling, the structure, or the real property to which the fees pertain, and by denying or suspending a permit under §§ 818.09 and 818.10. A lien on the property means an unpaid lodging fee follows the building.

Fees also gate the permit process. Under § 818.07(a) an application is not complete, and no permit decision can be made, until the unit has been inspected and all applicable fees have been paid. If the Code Compliance Division finds a deficiency in the form, including the failure to pay any fee, it notifies the applicant within five business days; if the applicant does not cure it within thirty days, the application is deemed abandoned, any fee paid is retained by the City, and a new application for the same property must pay every initial fee again (§ 818.07(e)).

Renewal adds a deadline fee. The renewal application and its fees must be filed no less than sixty days before the permit expires to avoid the permit renewal late fees set out in the § 802.24 schedule (§ 818.07(g)(3)). Inspections carry their own charge in one situation: under § 818.16(d), a room occupied for more than ninety days is treated as a residence open to inspection, and a fee can be assessed to recoup the costs of that inspection. Rent is also at stake, because § 818.06(d) bars collecting any rent for a period without a valid permit.