Note: This story appears in the Thursday, Nov. 8 newspaper on Page A3.

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A proposed agreement calling for Airbnb to collect Athens County’s 3 percent transient lodging tax was approved Tuesday by the county commissioners and has been submitted to the company for consideration.

“There should not be any reason why they would not sign on with this,” Commission President Lenny Eliason said, noting that Airbnb collects lodging taxes in other Ohio counties.

Airbnb is an internet service that helps people rent rooms in their homes to travelers. At an earlier meeting, Commissioner Chris Chmiel said there are more than 100 Airbnb hosts in Athens County, based on his review of the company’s website. He said only about a dozen are paying the tax to the county.

Chmiel said he sent the proposed agreement to the company on Wednesday. The agreement calls for Airbnb to facilitate the reporting, collection and remittance of the transient lodging taxes.

Eliason said if Airbnb enters into the agreement it would make it easier for the county to receive the tax revenue, rather than the county having to deal individually with hosts.

Tax revenue collected would be paid to the county through the county auditor’s office.

Auditor Jill Thompson said the county does not have a registration process for Airbnbs.

Thompson said she thinks there are hosts out there who just don’t know they should be charging guests the county’s 3 percent tax.