Tranel Accused Zinke of ‘Illegally’ Operating a Vacation Rental. Whitefish Officials Say Otherwise.

Democratic U.S. House candidate Monica Tranel made misleading claims about Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke in a new campaign advertisement that was filmed outside one of Zinke’s properties in Whitefish.

In the campaign ad released on Thursday, Tranel alleged that Zinke is renting out one of his Whitefish properties “illegally” while receiving a “special tax break” on the unit.

However, according to officials from the city of Whitefish, the rental property, which has been owned by Zinke and his wife, Lolita, since 1998, is operating legally following a compliance lapse that was rectified last month. The “special tax break” refers to Whitefish resort tax relief monies allocated to the Zinkes on their tax bill — a form of local tax relief that goes to every property owner in Whitefish. Per city officials, no special tax break has been obtained by the Zinkes on the unit.

Flanked by a camera crew, the ad shows Tranel walking in front of the Snowfrog Inn property, located at 409 W. Second St. near downtown Whitefish, a property that operates both as Zinke’s primary address and a seldom-used vacation rental.

In the ad, Tranel says, “Here we are at another one of Ryan Zinke’s nine properties. He’s renting out this one illegally as an Airbnb. You can rent one of these units at a low price of $10,000 a month. He’s even taken a special tax break on this place while driving up home prices and property taxes for us.”

Though the property is not zoned for a short-term rental, it has operated since 2013 under a conditional use permit (CUP) for a “bed and breakfast.” Per Whitefish city code, a bed and breakfast must meet a variety of conditions related to architecture, manager residence and guest access to cooking facilities.

In Zinke’s candidate filing for his 2024 House reelection campaign, the property is listed as his official mailing address. It was also listed as his address for his 2008 bid for state senate and 2012 bid for lieutenant governor, per the state’s Campaign Electronic Reporting System. However, residency questions have shrouded the Republican’s campaigns since his wife in 2021 declared a family home in Santa Barbara, Calif., as her primary residence.

The 409 W. Second St. property also contains a rental unit that is posted on AirBnB by Lolita Zinke as the “Snowfrog Inn and Gardens.” The apartment can be rented for a minimum of three nights. The unit is rarely rented, and was only occupied for eight nights in the last year, Whitefish Short-Term Rental Specialist and Code Compliance Officer Codi Evenson said.

The Whitefish City Council on June 3, 2013 unanimously approved a CUP requested by Zinke to operate the Snowfrog Inn property as a bed and breakfast, following extensive negotiations between Zinke, city officials and neighbors about the project.

Evenson said a property manager for the Zinkes reached out in early September to ensure the 409 W. Second St. property was still in compliance with their bed and breakfast CUP. Evenson told the property manager that in order to be compliant, guests must not have direct access to a full kitchen and the property management company should remove the unit’s stove. The property manager agreed.

“We had an enforcement arm look into it. We reached out, had it changed, and they’re now in compliance,” Evenson said.

The Airbnb listing says guests have access to a refrigerator, microwave, freezer and coffee maker, but it does not list a stove. The listing photos still include the stove. Evenson said kitchenettes without stoves are permitted in bed and breakfasts. A family or manager must be in permanent residence at a bed and breakfast — differentiating it from a short-term rental. Evenson said the Zinkes have been compliant with that requirement.

Since starting her position earlier this year, Evenson has taken action against 51 short-term rental units. The illegal rentals were either operating in improper zones or did not have a permit at all.

“There are several components that go into it, and they were missing one of the components,” Evenson said of the Zinkes’ property, adding that she “can’t say it was illegal” but was, rather, “not in complete compliance.”

She added that, per the property manager, they’ve “basically had no stays.”

“There’s nothing illegal about operating a short-term rental in Montana. The Zinke family has dozens of permits and licenses to operate their family business, they pay their taxes, and they are proud to support about a half dozen local small businesses who help them manage the spaces. Instead of invading the Zinke family’s privacy, entering their home and property to intimidate Ryan Zinke’s wife and daughter, Monica Tranel should disclose how much she profited off her sale of $50,000 worth of Airbnb stock while lynching Montanans who have a rental,” Heather Swift, spokesperson for Zinke, said via email.

Monica Tranel offered the following statement through a spokesperson: “Ryan Zinke is a housing profiteer, personally enriching himself from the housing crisis at a time when families are living in campers because they can’t afford a home. The facts of Zinke’s ownership of numerous AirbnB’s charging up to $16,000 per month for a single unit, while Montanans struggle, are uncontested. I’ve spent my career saving Montanans money and taking on profiteers like Zinke who are ripping us off, and I’m the only candidate with a plan to lower housing costs.”

The Tranel campaign’s ad also alleged that Zinke received a “special tax break” on the Snowfrog Inn Property, which referred to the Zinkes’ refund from the Whitefish Resort Tax property tax relief program.

The city of Whitefish collects a 3% resort tax on lodging, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other tourism-related goods and services sold within city limits. The tax monies collected are used for a variety of purposes. While the vast majority of resort tax revenue goes toward local infrastructure improvements, 25% goes toward property tax relief for taxpayers residing within city limits.

The Zinkes in 2022 received $484.76 in resort tax relief on the 409 W. Second St. property, per Flathead County tax records.

While the Tranel campaign characterized the tax relief obtained by the Zinkes as a “special” break, Whitefish city officials reiterated that property owners in Whitefish automatically receive resort tax relief and that there would have been no avenue for the Zinkes to seek a unique refund.

Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith said that resort tax relief “does not require a request” and “is allocated based on the value of the property in Whitefish to all property taxpayers.”

The Tranel campaign has made Zinke’s residency and wealth key talking points, as they work to paint the Congressman as a wealthy, out-of-touch California resident.

The campaign has called Zinke a “housing profiteer” and said that individuals like Zinke are “the reason it’s so expensive to live in Montana.”

The ad released earlier this week was the second targeting Zinke’s rental properties. The Tranel campaign in August filmed an ad in Zinke’s Bay Point condominium on Whitefish Lake, which he rents out as a short-term rental on Airbnb.

Tranel said in the ad, “[Zinke is] buying up properties in Montana and jacking up the rent.”

In Whitefish, the proliferation of short-term rentals has contributed to an ever-present housing crisis that has priced locals out of the area. The city of Whitefish last fall approved hiring Evenson as its first short-term rental enforcement officer to crack down on abuse of the city’s rental guidelines.

Tranel and Zinke are locked in a close rematch for Montana’s Western U.S. House district. The Cook Political Report earlier this month shifted the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican,” as Tranel closes in on Zinke. Zinke beat Tranel in 2022 by 3 percentage points, or around 8,000 votes.

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