STR Taxes, Insurance, Licensing - Duluth, MN / St. Louis County

[Dane Olson]

I own a property (thankfully) just north of Duluth MN, however it is still in St Louis County. I am starting the paperwork process to operate a short term/vacation rental, it's in a small township that has no self regulation, strictly county rules. I've had good communication with the state and county, getting the proper paperwork and requirements. It's still hard to find any insight from someone who is already doing this in St Louis County dealing with their unique restrictions and regulations. I'm trying to get some idea of these costs and determine if it's even viable.

County Reqs: Lodging License from State Health Dept (roughly $375/yr), Permit from the county ($275/yr), septic recertification, and water testing (well water) annually. Those things are in the realm of understanding.

I've heard speculation with the permitting and state license, property taxes could triple, but I have not been able to verify.

I've also seen some concerns but no validation about sales tax reqs from the state versus what services (vrbo, airbnb, etc) provide as tax documents.

I understand a need to increased insurance, but even my agent (who's done a number of STRs) is baffled by some of the requirements, I'm not sure what the annual cost will be to comply.

Liability reqs:

A. $500,000 for claims for wrongful death and each claimant for other claims; $1,500,000 per occurrence. No Less Than $2,000,000 Aggregate coverage. B. Policy shall include at least premises, operations, completed operations, independent contractors and subcontractors and contractual liability and environmental liability. C. St. Louis County must be named additional insured.

I've done a lot of property management, but it will be MY first rental, and weighing the options of STR vs long term renting. Any help or insight would be appreciated.