Transient Occupancy Tax

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' tribal council has decided it will give the city $700,000 a year in hotel taxes for the next 20 years. The money is earmarked for spending on promoting tourism. The decision broke an impasse over renewal of a lapsed agreement on a transient occupancy tax. The tribe had claimed that it had sovereign authority over its lands and operations and was not subject to certain taxes, including the transient occupancy tax.

Here's an extra expense for out-of-town travelers that takes shelter under many names: hotel tax, bed tax, room tax and, my favorite, transient occupancy tax. (It makes me feel so cheap.) Whatever it's called by the pooh-bahs in the province you're passing through, it's a tax you never got to vote on and one that doesn't always benefit you.

The City Council has voted to endorse Measure H on the Nov. 7 ballot. The measure asks whether an ordinance should increase the transient occupancy tax, which is assessed on hotel and motel rooms. If the measure passes, the tax could increase from 10% to 13%.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' tribal council has decided it will give the city $700,000 a year in hotel taxes for the next 20 years. The money is earmarked for spending on promoting tourism. The decision broke an impasse over renewal of a lapsed agreement on a transient occupancy tax. The tribe had claimed that it had sovereign authority over its lands and operations and was not subject to certain taxes, including the transient occupancy tax.

The City Council has upheld the Planning Commission's decision to allow an extended-stay hotel with 152 two-bedroom suites on the former Fletcher Jones Motorcars site. The project, on Quail Street, also includes a five-story office building. Council members expressed concern about the distance between the project and its neighbor, as well as the loss of transient occupancy tax when people stay in a hotel longer than 30 days.

The City Council tonight will consider the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 preliminary budgets. A key issue is the loss of $750,000 in annual state "new city" subsidies. But the loss should be offset by revenue increases in transient occupancy tax and property tax, according to a report by the city manager. Included in the budget is a call for a comprehensive review of all city policies and fees. The council meets at 6:30 p.m. in chambers, 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 210. Information: (949) 248-9890.

The City Council has passed the first reading of an ordinance to increase the Arcadia transient occupancy tax from 5% to 8%, effective Oct. 1. The increase is expected to generate an additional $186,000 for the city. The council is expected to take final action on the ordinance in July. A survey of California cities shows that most have an 8% tax. The city of Los Angeles' occupancy tax is 11% and the county's is 10%. Occupancy taxes in the San Gabriel Valley range from a high of 9.

The Santa Monica City Council is considering raising its tax on hotel guests in Santa Monica from 10% to 12%, beginning in October. The transient occupancy tax would bring in an additional $897,000--most of which has already been worked into this year's budget. "We'll be generating revenue, which this city needs from sources that can afford it," Councilman David Finkel said. City Manager John Jalili said a hotel marketing consultant had calculated that the increase would not have an adverse impact on the industry.

The City Council is considering raising its tax on hotel guests in Santa Monica from 10% to 12%, beginning in October. The transient occupancy tax would bring in an additional $897,000--most of which has already been worked into this year's budget. "We'll be generating revenue, which this city needs from sources that can afford it," Councilman David Finkel said. City Manager John Jalili said a hotel marketing consultant had calculated that the increase would not have an adverse impact on the industry.

The Beverly Hills Planning Commission has unanimously recommended that the City Council approve the expansion of the Beverly Hilton despite residents' objections. The commission Monday imposed certain conditions, such as additional parking and landscaping, on the hotel at the west corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

The City Council has voted to endorse Measure H on the Nov. 7 ballot. The measure asks whether an ordinance should increase the transient occupancy tax, which is assessed on hotel and motel rooms. If the measure passes, the tax could increase from 10% to 13%.

The City Council tonight will consider the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 preliminary budgets. A key issue is the loss of $750,000 in annual state "new city" subsidies. But the loss should be offset by revenue increases in transient occupancy tax and property tax, according to a report by the city manager. Included in the budget is a call for a comprehensive review of all city policies and fees. The council meets at 6:30 p.m. in chambers, 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 210. Information: (949) 248-9890.

The City Council has upheld the Planning Commission's decision to allow an extended-stay hotel with 152 two-bedroom suites on the former Fletcher Jones Motorcars site. The project, on Quail Street, also includes a five-story office building. Council members expressed concern about the distance between the project and its neighbor, as well as the loss of transient occupancy tax when people stay in a hotel longer than 30 days.

The city of Oxnard is seeing an increase in tourism, officials with the Greater Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau said, based on greater hotel sales tax revenues coming in this year than last. The transient occupancy tax, or TOT, increased in both July and August over the same period in 1995, said Carol Lavender, the bureau's executive director. Occupancy tax revenues increased 8.17% in July over the previous year, and the figure for August was 15.15% higher.

Effective July 1, overnight visitors to East Shore RV Park, a campground in Bonelli Regional County Park, will pay a 4% transient occupancy tax if they stay less than 30 days. City Manager Bob Poff said the revenues will help pay for law enforcement services at the park. The tax is similar to what hotel customers pay. The city code amendment was adopted Tuesday on a 3-2 vote.

Jay Patel has owned the Hollywood Park Hotel since 1977. And over the years, he says, business has been brisk, but hardly booming, at the 15-room hotel across from Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood. But the city, he said, doesn't believe him and is now demanding $16,000 a year in hotel bed taxes when he figures he owes no more than $2,500. "They think I'm making all this money . . . but it's not true," he says. True or not, Inglewood officials have been pressing Patel and some other owners of the city's 45 hotels and motels to either prove they don't do more business than they claim or face back payments on the city's 10% hotel/motel bed tax. The city's hard-line position on the so-called transient occupancy tax began two years ago when, officials said, audits and spot visits to hotels and motels proved that some were shortchanging the city and taxpayers by renting the rooms, charging the bed tax and then not turning the tax money over to the city.

Funding for a code-enforcement task force and an increase in the hotel tax were among the changes approved in the final operating budget adopted by the City Council Monday night for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The task force will consist of two officers now working in building and property code enforcement, two additional officers, a deputy city attorney to prosecute violators, and two staff people, said Finance Director Robert Norquist....

The city of Oxnard is seeing an increase in tourism, officials with the Greater Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau said, based on greater hotel sales tax revenues coming in this year than last. The transient occupancy tax, or TOT, increased in both July and August over the same period in 1995, said Carol Lavender, the bureau's executive director. Occupancy tax revenues increased 8.17% in July over the previous year, and the figure for August was 15.15% higher.

Funding for a code-enforcement task force and an increase in the hotel tax were among the changes approved in the final operating budget adopted by the City Council Monday night for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The task force will consist of two officers now working in building and property code enforcement, two additional officers, a deputy city attorney to prosecute violators, and two staff people, said Finance Director Robert Norquist....

With little discussion, the Torrance City Council approved an $84.4-million budget for 1989-90 that includes new or increased taxes for sewer services, long-distance telephone calls and garbage collection and eliminates an exemption to the city's hotel tax. The two-inch-thick budget report, adopted Tuesday, recommends the new taxes to help offset slow growth in revenues from sales and utility taxes and a reduction in the city's interest-earning revenue....