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The City of Bonavista has taken a new approach to dealing with airbnb hosts who represent unfair competition for hotels and bread-and-breakfast ins because they don't pay business taxes. They cut your sewer and water lines.
Bonavista cuts off services for Airbnb operators with unpaid business tax bills.
"We have gone to some pretty serious measures to collect. We have literally dug up driveways and turned off water (and) sewer service until the bill is paid, cutting them off completely from all municipal services.
-- Mayor John Norman
If people can't even drive their car onto your property, take a shower, use the toilet, you're pretty motivated to pony up.
The mayor said the taxation method has been successful, but he acknowledges not all Airbnb owners are pleased.
"I don't think some are happy about it, but it is what it is."
This is a pretty effective fix to unfair competition by airbnb hosts. The next question is, how can we apply the same thinking to uber and lyft?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 11 2019, @02:47PM (1 child)
Northern Somalia is actually quite nice. My nephew and his father recently visited, and had a great time.
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi3o76BgMnkAhUGJzQIHVWvCRIQFjALegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw1XzfsR-DGUJBrrvrmU584n [google.com]
As for southern Somalia, if it wasn't for western Europe, Russia, and the US stealing all the fish from their territorial waters, then dumping their trash in said waters (including, from Russia, nuclear waste), the fisherfolk of Somalia would still be able to make a living fishing. Without fishing being viable, and with mariner skills, piracy became an attractive option.
Yes, of course, I get the point you were trying to make, but your example isn't really true for all of Somalia, and for the parts it is, there is a pretty terrible back-story of abuse by rich nations that forced the situation.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday September 12 2019, @08:50AM
Maybe if they had a bigger tax base they'd be able to patrol their territorial waters.