Short-Term Rental Laws in French Lick, Indiana

French Lick — anchored by the French Lick Resort + West Baden Springs Hotel + French Lick Casino complex — operates one of Indiana's most STR-friendly frameworks. STRs permitted broadly across residential and resort-overlay zones with registration + Innkeeper's Tax. Most STR inventory clusters in the Larry Bird Boulevard corridor, near the historic spring hotels, and the Patoka Lake gateway area. HEA 1035 preemption + the town's tourism-dependent economy mean no STR-targeted restrictions.

Zoning: Town of French Lick + Orange County both permit STR broadly. The historic resort district (French Lick Springs Hotel + West Baden Springs Hotel campuses + adjacent blocks) has design-review overlays for exterior work but STR use is unrestricted. Properties on / near Patoka Lake (a major regional reservoir 15 minutes north) fall under Orange County jurisdiction and additional Indiana DNR overlay rules for shoreline parcels.

Operators must hold a short-term rental permit before listing. See the official permit portal.

Orange County + Town of French Lick jointly administer. Annual registration with designated local 24/7 contact, proof of property insurance, life-safety self-certification. Orange County Treasurer collects 5% Innkeeper's Tax. Code enforcement primarily complaint-driven. Small-town municipality — most permitting + complaint handling routes through the Town Clerk's office directly. Confirm specific procedural details with the Town Clerk before assuming county-style application paths.

Combined short-term lodging tax in French Lick is approximately 12.000% of gross nightly revenue (state sales + state TRT + local TRT + applicable resort/city options).

Indiana State sales tax 7% + Orange County Innkeeper's Tax 5% — combined ~12% on transient lodging; confirm at Orange County Treasurer

Verify the current combined rate via the Utah State Tax Commission before remitting — rates drift quarterly.