Sedona's $210 Per-Unit STR Permit: What Every Host Must Do Now

If you rent a home in Sedona, the city wants a permit for every single unit you operate, and it will fine you if you skip it. At $210 per unit, per year, Sedona's short-term rental permit fee sits just below the ceiling Arizona state law allows, and there is no sharing, transferring, or refunding it. For hosts running more than one property, the costs stack up fast.

One Unit, One Permit, No Exceptions

Sedona's rule is straightforward and unforgiving: each short-term rental unit requires its own city-issued permit. That means a host with three properties owes three separate permit fees before a single guest checks in. The fee is $210 a year per unit, non-refundable and non-transferable. Arizona law caps any city's permit fee at $250, so Sedona has priced itself right at the edge of what the state allows.

The permit number the city issues does not just sit in a filing cabinet. It has to appear on every advertisement and listing. If your Airbnb or Vrbo listing is live without that number, you are already out of compliance.

What You Need Before the City Will Issue the Permit

Getting the permit is not a one-step process. Sedona has stacked several requirements that must be in place first:

• A transaction privilege tax license from the Arizona Department of Revenue, obtained before the city permit.
• Contact information for the owner, the owner's designee, and an emergency contact.
• Liability insurance of at least $500,000 in the aggregate on each unit.
• All required building safety approvals.
• Neighbor notification: every single-family property adjacent to, directly across from, and diagonally across the street from yours must be notified before the first booking.

That neighbor notification requirement is not a courtesy. It is a legal condition of the permit, and it applies before your very first guest, not after.

Enforcement Is Real and the Fines Are Steep

Sedona is not treating these rules as suggestions. The city has been actively enforcing its short-term rental regulations, including issuing fines for unregistered rentals. Operators found in violation may face fines up to $1,000 per day. The city's enforcement system includes property inspections and a response mechanism for community complaints, and Sedona is currently reviewing that system, signaling a potential tightening of oversight ahead.

For a host running an unregistered unit, a few weeks of non-compliance could cost more than the permit fee many times over.

The Tax Layer You Cannot Ignore

The permit is only part of the compliance picture. Every stay under 30 consecutive days falls under Arizona's transient lodging classification, which means tax obligations at both the state and city level. Hosts need to verify current rates with the Arizona Department of Revenue's transaction privilege tax rate table, which is reissued as rates change. While Airbnb collects lodging tax on bookings made through its platform, manual tax submission is also required, so hosts cannot assume the platform handles everything.

What to Do Right Now

If you are already operating in Sedona without a permit, stop and get one. If you are planning to launch a new unit, build the permit process into your timeline before you publish any listing. The sequence matters: tax license first, then city permit, then listing goes live with the permit number displayed.

Multi-unit operators should audit every property separately. Each unit is its own compliance obligation, and the city treats them that way. A permit for one address does not cover another.

Sedona is a high-demand market, with nearly 189 out of every 1,000 homes counted as seasonal or vacation properties. That density means enforcement attention is not going away. Getting compliant now is cheaper, faster, and far less painful than dealing with a fine notice later.

For the complete Sedona compliance guide including tax calculator, checklist, and daily monitoring, see Sedona, AZ STR Regulations.