Florence mayor to up tax for people running over 4 homes

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 26 - Florence Mayor Sara Funaro said Tuesday she will raise the TARI municipal waste disposal tax for people who are managing more than four homes in a bid to discourage short-term rentals and the consequent hollowing out of the city centre amid rampant overtourism.
    The move aims to also create a fund with the proceeds to lower the rate for residents, Funaro said in an interview with Repubblica Firenze, talking about the scourge of short-term rentals like airbnb.
    "I have instructed the offices to work to differentiate the TARI rate, on waste, for homes that are used for domestic purposes and those that are used for hospitality activities," Funaro said.
    "Today, those who manage 600 apartments pay the same TARI as a family, and this is not correct.
    "National legislation allows us to act on those who rent more than four homes", Funaro said.
    To find them, she added, "there is the CIN, the national identification code. There are databases. There is artificial intelligence. We will find a way. Those who rent four or more houses on portals must pay more TARI. And with that money we will create a fund to lower the rate a little for those who use the house as a residence".
    Still on the subject of short-term rentals, Funaro also focused on keyboxes, saying "they are a security problem, we are talking about it with the prefect.
    "And also an aesthetic one: I have seen them attached to the rings of historic doors, which is unacceptable.
    "But above all now we must distinguish an apartment for residential use from one for tourist use".
    Funaro, below, was elected Florence's first female mayor on June 26. (ANSA).