Small fee, big impact: Cascade Vacation Rentals donates $90,000 to HRA through 1% fee

For nearly three years, Cascade Vacation Rentals has used a creative approach to support the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority’s efforts to facilitate and develop workforce housing.

Since September 2022, Cascade Vacation Rentals, a property management group based in Lutsen, has included a 1% HRA workforce fee per booking or reservation.

“We take 1% gross rents and charge it on each reservation, or most reservations,” said Clair Stoddard, co-owner of Cascade Vacation Rentals. “We track that internally on the back end so that we know at the end of the day how much we’re donating to the HRA.”

After the final numbers have been tallied at the end of the year, Cascade Vacation Rental writes a check to the HRA.

Since implementing the 1% HRA workforce fee in 2022, Cascade Vacation Rentals has donated $90,000.

HRA Commissioner Bill Hansen said the yearly contributions had helped the HRA with land acquisition for Hamilton Habitat to build two homes, covered costs for wetland delineations, and closed the financing gap for workforce housing projects.

“To have that steady source of income that’s unencumbered, that we don’t have to go out and apply for, that we just have, is incredibly helpful,” Hansen said.

Stoddard said the Cascade Vacation Rental ownership group was motivated to implement the fee as a way to be “part of the solution” to address the housing shortage in Cook County.

Stoddard, who was part of the Cook County Vacation Rental Review Committee in 2022, said she recognizes the role that short-term rentals play in the lack of housing in Cook County. However, there are a myriad of other factors contributing to the issue, such as second homes, less than 10% private land, and the high cost of building.

“Some of the challenges in Cook County have been that we have not built enough homes,” she said. “It has not kept up over the years.”

In a September 2022 interview with WTIP, Cook County Assessor Bob Thompson shared that nearly 73% of Cook County’s housing stock was second homes and seasonal cabins.

Hansen said Cascade Vacation Rental’s 1% HRA workforce fee is a model that can be replicated and adopted by numerous other North Shore property management companies or hospitality and retail businesses. As the former owner of Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, he said the HRA workforce fee could also be applied to a “canoe rental.”

“That’s the beauty of it. It’s kind of a homegrown thing,” Hansen said. “It’s not a tax. It’s something that’s paid by visitors, essentially. And I think there’s some justice in that.”

Stoddard said Cascade Vacation Rental is “really happy that we could help be a partner and help be a part of the solution in a small way.”

In the coming months, Hansen and Stoddard will work together to contact other North Shore property management companies, local organizations, and businesses to spread the word about implementing a similar model, with the contributions going back to the HRA for workforce housing projects.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with HRA Commissioner Bill Hansen and Co-Owner of Cascade Vacation Rental Clair Stoddard about the 1% HRA workforce fee. The audio from the interview is below.

Kalli Hawkins April 17, 2025