Tasmania’s Dorset Council has raised the waste levy for Airbnb properties by more than $2,000.

Short-stay accommodation providers have seen their council waste charges increased by at least 235 per cent in the Dorset region, but no additional services will be delivered.

Owners in Derby, Branxholm and Winnaleah have had their waste levies lifted from $900 last financial year to $3,020 per dwelling, while levies in Bridport, Scottsdale and Tomahawk have also significantly increased.

The council says the levy rise is needed to “level the playing field” and ensure all short-term accommodation businesses pay comparable rates. 

Dorset Council Mayor Greg Howard has blamed the Office of the Valuer-General, which he says considers short-stay accommodation properties to be residential instead of commercial, so the council cannot charge commercial rates.

“It's only appropriate that Airbnbs, which are for all intents and purposes commercial enterprises, should pay a reasonable share of the rates burden and we've done that via the waste management charge,” Mr Howard said.

He said it is unfair that short-stay accommodation providers can pay less in rates than hotels, motels and registered bed and breakfasts, so the council has moved to “level the playing field”.

“The Local Government Act is highly restrictive as to what councils can make charges for and the waste levy is one of those, so we've used that mechanism,” Mr Howard said.

“If the Office of the Valuer-General had done its job and reclassified the properties, the owners would have been paying just as much.”

He said community consultation would not have helped, as “no-one was going to be in favour of it”.

Minister for Local Government Nic Street says he has requested the Office of Local Government to look into the move and report back to him.

The council has been looking to fill a sudden budget black hole that emerged at the end of the last financial year, which it blames on rapidly rising inflation.