As the representatives of Tulare County's first and fifth supervisorial districts, we write to inform you of our
opposition to your measure SB 584, which would impose a 15% tax on the occupancy of short-term rentals.
Proceeds of the tax would be used to provide grants for the creation of "laborforce housing."
While we support continuing efforts to reduce the cost of developing affordable housing and support the
expansion of affordable housing statewide, this measure takes a flawed approach by increasing taxes on
Californians who are already financially strained. Creating a statewide 15% tax on the occupancy of short-term rentals will have a net negative impact on essential economic drivers in Tulare County such as tourism,
hospitality and recreation.
Counties rely on their local Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) as a significant source of General Fund revenue.
Imposing a 15% statewide tax on top of existing local rates averaging 10% would cripple this critical local
revenue source for our communities by making the cumulative TOT a prohibitive fiscal burden for tourism and
hospitality. This cost burden will put extreme downward pressure on our communities by making it unlikely
our county will be able to raise our local TOT in the future to appropriately fund the services that our citizens
need.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that revenue generated by the additional 15% TOT will serve our
communities. Without a provision to direct what revenue is collected to the communities who will be
negatively impacted by this bill, we have no reason to support such a proposal.
For these reasons, we respectfully oppose SB 584. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our
office at (559) 636-5000.
Sincerely,
Larry Micari, District One
Tulare County Board of Supervisors
Dennis Townsend, District Five
Tulare County Board of Supervisors
cc: Senator Limón, Tulare County State Delegation, Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange