Rapid City, SD Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

410, funds its registration system through a fee rather than a codified occupancy tax. Subsection C states that before an application to register or renew a vacation home can be accepted by the Department of Community Development, the applicant must pay a registration fee to the City, and it sets that fee by resolution passed by the City Council rather than printing a dollar figure directly in the zoning code, meaning the amount can be updated by Council action without a code amendment. The same subsection requires that every vacation home rented or leased separately to the public be individually registered, so a property with multiple separately rented units pays the fee, and files the full application, once per unit.

The fee sits alongside other paid-for requirements bundled into the application: proof of a current State of South Dakota lodging establishment license under SDCL Chapter 34-18, and, for owners living more than 50 miles from the city who are not using a management company, a designated local contact. Because the registration fee is set administratively by resolution rather than fixed in Title 17, a resident looking for the current dollar amount should check with the Department of Community Development directly rather than relying on the ordinance text for a number.