Evanston, IL Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Chapter 9 of Title 5 was repealed and reenacted in its entirety by Ord. No. 2-O-26, adopted February 23, 2026, replacing the former vacation rental chapter. Section 5-9-3 makes it unlawful to operate a short-term rental without a current, valid license, and a separate intermediary license is required before anyone lists or advertises a unit. A short-term rental is a dwelling unit or portion of one offered for rent for a period shorter than thirty consecutive days to anyone outside the owner's household.

Owners pay two charges. Section 5-9-5(D) imposes a non-refundable application fee on every property owner who submits an application, and an annual fee for the license itself. Section 5-9-6(D) makes the certificate valid for one year from issuance. Chapter 9 does not print a dollar amount for either charge. Each is set from time to time by action of the City Council, so the current figure lives in the City's adopted fee schedule rather than in the code text. Intermediaries face the same pair of charges under Section 5-9-4(D): a non-refundable application fee and an annual license fee, both left to the Council.

Renewal has its own cost rules. Section 5-9-8(B) sets the annual renewal fee the same way and adds a late fee if the renewal application is not received before the license expires, again in an amount the Council establishes. A licensee who lets the license lapse for more than sixty days loses the right to renew and must file a new application that meets every standard in force at that time. Bookings for dates beyond sixty days after expiration are subject to penalties. Renewal without the full new-application review also depends on three conditions: the hotel-motel, bed and breakfast establishments, and vacation rental tax has been paid under Section 3-2-4, the license was not revoked or suspended during the most recent license year, and the unit passed an annual inspection under the City's adopted Property Maintenance Code.

The tax is collected at the platform level. Section 5-9-9(A) requires every short-term rental to use a licensed intermediary to list or advertise the unit and to remit the taxes, and Section 5-9-4(C) obligates each intermediary to remit the tax for every unit listed on its platform. Under Section 5-9-4(B), an intermediary can list only units the City has duly licensed.

Fees restart whenever the license does. If the dwelling is structurally altered during the license year, or the property changes owners, Section 5-9-8 requires a new application, and Section 5-9-5(D) attaches the application fee to every owner who files one. Fees also buy no guaranteed slot: Section 5-9-6(A) caps licenses at one per hundred long-term rental units registered under Title 5, Chapter 8, and Section 5-9-5(E) bars rent-restricted or subsidized housing from operating as short-term rentals.