Short-Term Rentals in Killington, Vermont

A 2020 ballot fight, triggered by a septic failure at a 28-occupant rental

Killington's short-term-rental rules trace to a specific, documented incident: a property owner held a Vermont Division of Fire Safety occupancy permit allowing up to 28 occupants (based on a sprinkler system and fire-safety upgrades), then rented the house to short-term tenant groups at or near that capacity -- overwhelming the property's wastewater system and causing a septic failure. The Killington Planning Commission responded by drafting short-term-rental regulations, first aiming for adoption in May 2020, but a citizen petition forced the question to an Australian-ballot town vote instead. On November 3, 2020, Killington voters approved the ordinance 482 to 262, and the Select Board finalized the registration form and administrative details in the weeks that followed.

Directly because of the septic-failure case, the ordinance requires more than a simple registration for larger rentals: any short-term rental with an occupancy of more than 8 guests must carry a current inspection report and occupancy approval from the state Division of Fire Safety, and every registered short-term rental must carry a declaration of insurance coverage specific to short-term vacation rental use -- not just an ordinary homeowner's policy. Both requirements exist specifically to prevent a repeat of the overcrowding-driven system failure that prompted the ordinance in the first place.

How registration actually works: fees, the annual cycle, and occupancy math

Every short-term rental in Killington -- defined as a furnished dwelling rented to the public for fewer than 30 consecutive days but more than 14 days per calendar year -- needs its own STR Registration from the Zoning Administrator; a property with multiple separately rentable units needs a separate registration for each one. Registrations run on an annual cycle from November 1 through October 31 and must be renewed each year by November 15, with no pro-rated fee available for a partial year. The registration fee is tiered by bedroom count: $150 for a one- or two-bedroom unit, $200 for three bedrooms, and $250 for four or more bedrooms. The town has since moved registration onto an online portal (GovOS/MuniRevs) rather than a paper form.

Maximum occupancy is set by a fixed formula rather than negotiated case by case: two occupants per approved bedroom, plus two additional occupants -- so a three-bedroom rental tops out at eight guests. This formula, combined with the fire-safety inspection trigger above 8 occupants, is a direct response to the 2020 case and is worth checking against any listing's advertised sleeping capacity before assuming it's compliant.

No numeric cap -- and a town where STRs now outnumber year-round housing

Unlike Stowe's 850-license cap-and-lottery system or Woodstock's 110-unit cap (both covered on their own county pages), Killington's ordinance is a registration-and-fee system with no ceiling on the total number of licensed short-term rentals town-wide. The market scale that has resulted is striking: 2026 data put Killington at 1,156 active short-term-rental listings across Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, and separate reporting describes Killington's overall housing-vacancy rate at 83.4% -- the highest of any Vermont town that still has a genuine year-round population, reflecting how much of the town's housing stock now functions as vacation-rental inventory rather than full-time residences. Killington's own year-round population is under 900, meaning active short-term-rental listings substantially outnumber permanent residents. Rather than tackle this through a cap or lottery, the resort and town have responded on the worker-housing side, including converting hotel space into housing for the resort's seasonal workforce -- a sign that a cap-style ordinance is at least on the table as a future policy direction, even though it isn't current law.

What to verify before buying a Killington property for short-term-rental income

1. Whether the specific unit already holds a current STR Registration, and if not, budget for the tiered fee ($150/$200/$250 by bedroom count) and the November 1-October 31 annual cycle, renewing by November 15.
2. The maximum lawful occupancy under the two-per-bedroom-plus-two formula, and whether that occupancy exceeds 8 guests -- which triggers the state Division of Fire Safety inspection and occupancy-approval requirement.
3. That a short-term-rental-specific insurance declaration is in place or can be obtained -- an ordinary homeowner's policy does not satisfy this ordinance requirement.
4. Whether the town's Unified Development Regulations (amended as recently as 2025) have added any new zoning-district-specific restrictions on short-term rentals since the 2020 registration ordinance was adopted -- confirm the current text with the Zoning Administrator.
5. Vermont's statewide obligations layered on top of the town rule: Act 48 (2024) STR registration and the 9% Rooms Tax, the Act 183 (2024) 3% STR surcharge, and the state's own occupancy-based fire-safety self-certification or inspection threshold.