DESTIN, Fla. – The City of Destin is moving forward with plans this week to implement fees on short-term condo rentals, a change necessary to ensure public safety.

Currently, Destin oversees short-term residential rentals that pay an annual registration fee to ensure that property owners bear some of the burden their visitors place on police and emergency services. Whether the fee will ultimately be flat or per square foot is still under discussion.

The city’s year-round population is just under 15,000. But every weekend during the season, Destin’s population grows by another 80,000. That requires more resources for police and lifeguards, which adds up to high costs.

“The sheriffs and lifeguards now make over three million dollars a year,” says Krystal Strickland, Destin’s finance director. “That’s a third of the ad valorem tax we collect from our residents.”

Council members say it is time for everyone who benefits from visitors to pay their fair share.

“This is not a tough business,” says Councilwoman Theresa Hebert. “I don’t think it would hurt a homeowners corporation to give up three or four hundred dollars a year to help us mitigate big impacts.”

City Councilor Dewey Destin says, “We don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. We just want them to at least bear a fair share of the cost.”

However, the plan could face resistance.

“To be honest, this smells like a money-making scheme,” says Ken Wampler of Newman-Dailey Vacation Rentals. “Because if the city provides a service in exchange for the fees that the property owners pay, that’s one thing when it’s a vacation rental.

There is already a fee for residential tenants. But how high this will be in the future and what proportion of the apartments will be owner-occupied is still a matter of debate.

“We’re just moving this forward,” said Mayor Bobby Wagner. “If we make this an ordinance, we’ll have two more tries, so rally your people on both sides.”

Public hearings will follow as the city hopes to have the ordinance in place with the new funding sources by spring.

The city’s Department of Building Inspection says it’s already overwhelmed with monitoring rental properties, meaning the city may have to hire a third party to collect payments and fees from condos — so more revenue can go toward public safety.