Sonoma County eyes Measure L’s tax hike on hotel stays to boost road repairs

Measure L received more than 68 percent of the vote, a clear victory that indicates local residents believe visitors should pony up to help offset their impacts on public services.|

Sonoma County voters have overwhelmingly approved a tax hike meant to bring in more money from tourists, who’ll now pay a 12 percent surcharge on overnight stays outside city limits.

Measure L, which needed only a majority to pass, received more than 68 percent of the vote, a clear victory that indicates local residents believe visitors should pony up to help offset their impacts on public services.

The increase in the county’s bed tax - set to rise from 9 cents on the dollar to 12 cents - is levied on overnight stays at hotels, inns, vacation rentals and campgrounds. It goes into effect Jan. 1.

County supervisors voiced strong support for the increase, saying it provide a critical revenue stream for the county general fund. The money will be used to repair crumbling roads, develop workforce housing for families and veterans, fund emergency services and improve water quality, supervisors pledged.

“Sonoma County is a destination that is world-renowned, but we have to look at how that success is impacting local residents and their quality of life,” said Supervisor Efren Carrillo. “There is a need to balance our popularity and the growth of this very important economic sector with its impacts on roads, on public safety and emergency services.”

The increase, expected to generate an additional $4.8 million for the county general fund, brings the hotel-bed tax rate in unincorporated Sonoma County in line with the rate in neighboring jurisdictions, including Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Healdsburg and Windsor.

Supervisors have launched an effort to more aggressively collect hotel bed taxes from vacation rental hosts, many of whom have flouted the rules for years by using their housing as short-term rentals without registering with the county and paying taxes.

Supervisors on Tuesday are expected to approve an agreement with Airbnb, requiring the guest hosting site to collect bed taxes beginning Jan. 1 and hand revenue over to the county.

“We’re not 100 percent sure all the hosts are paying right now … perhaps they don’t know they’re supposed to,” said Donna Dunk, the county’s auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector. “The idea is to get everybody into compliance.”

In 2015, Airbnb collected $715,000 in bed tax revenue from hosts outside city limits. Tax proceeds are expected to grow following the hotel-bed tax increase, as well as approval of the county’s agreement with Airbnb, Dunk said.

If approved, Sonoma County will join 17 other jurisdictions across the state to require such tax-collecting arrangements, including San Francisco, Humboldt and Santa Cruz counties, according to Airbnb.

“We have some Airbnb property owners who are responsible and have been paying their taxes, but we also know there are some bad players out there,” said Supervisor Shirlee Zane, the incoming chairwoman of the board. “I appreciate that there are people out there who need Airbnnb to meet their mortgages and stay in their homes, but we want to make sure they are complying with the rules.”

Zane and Dunk said the county is exploring whether to adopt similar agreements with other guest-hosting sites, such as FlipKey, VRBO and HomeAway.

At present, 2,185 properties are registered with the county to pay hotel-bed taxes. Annual revenue, before the tax increase, is?$13 million. The majority of it funds tourism and advertising programs.

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