GULF SHORES — The details are still being worked out, but Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft says changes are coming to the ordinance regulating business licenses in an effort to more efficiently collect lodging taxes.

A public hearing on Monday brought out a lot of rental company managers to discuss the new changes in the law. Also part of the same rewrite will be a requirement that each unit have an emergency contact person who can respond to city officials in two hours or less if there is a problem.

Toward the end of an hour-long meeting Craft acknowledged there was more work to be done before the final changes come to a vote.

“We’re going to regroup ourselves and try to take what we’ve heard today, redraft this, we’ll send it out again, we’ll (meet) again,” He said. “We’re going to get this right. But we’re going to do this.”

The change would require companies to provide an itemized list of every unit in all complexes that have rental units. Currently, larger condo complexes provide just one monthly report for the entire building. The ordinance would require a report for individual rental houses in the city as well.

A concern was raised by several in the audience about the extra work that would cause their companies.

“If I can just send you a report out of my system that’s going to look different everybody else’s, that’s OK,” Geoff Gaberino of Gulf Shores Vacation Rentals said. “But if I’m asked to put it into a spreadsheet that’s customized by you guys that I have to pull out of my report and stick it on a spreadsheet, then that’s more work and that does give me a little pause.”

Joe Edwards said his company used to manage 135 units but is now down to about 35.

“I don’t think by getting me busier and doing my paperwork is going to do it,” he said. “How is this going to help you tighten that loop? I don’t see how us doing all this extra work is going to do anything for y’all.”

City officials say the companies are already getting the number the new ordinance would require when the companies compile the reports.

“All we see is a lump sum number and we are wanting to see a per unit number,” Craft said. “Whatever you use to compile that number, just give us that sheet. That way we can see which business licenses are paying and who is and who isn’t.”

The city wants a better accounting of the taxes, including from units available from Vacation Rentals By Owner, or vrbo.com, a popular internet site. All rental properties are required to have a business license.

“We want to know if a business license we issue is paying lodging taxes,” Craft said. “We have no way of knowing. But if we want to pull out a business and then find out if we did receive any fees from this business license from rentals, we can’t do that. If you give us that report, we can.”

Gaberino said there are close to 5,000 rental units in Gulf Shores and asked if the city will look at the reports on every one of those each month.

“No we don’t and we won’t,” Craft said. “We don’t have the resources to do that. If we can do it periodically we can tell who is paying and who is not, trying our best to create a level playing field.

“We know we’re not collecting the taxes in this city that should be collected. That’s not fair to the citizens. We know that you guys paying your taxes are paying and others are not and that’s not fair to you.”

Craft said city leaders and staff would go back to work on the ordinance to make sure it is workable for everyone involved.

“It’s an advantage to both of us,” he said. “Be aware we are not going to let this slide. We are determined to make this a level playing field, collect taxes from everybody, force everybody to do what they are supposed to do here. Everybody is a big word and we’ll never get everybody, but we’re going to be doing better than we are doing.”