What is Measure F-22 and how can it help Paso Robles residents?
The city of Paso Robles has benefited from a booming tourism industry.
Now the Paso Robles City Council wants to leverage that success to help fund local residents’ top priorities.
Paso Robles residents will vote in November on Measure F-22, which would increase the city’s transient occupancy tax (TOT) from 10% to 11%, according to a resolution set forth by the Paso Robles City Council.
The transient occupancy tax, also known as a bed tax, is a general tax levied by the city of Paso Robles on rent charged by operators of hotels, short-term rentals or similar lodging for people staying in Paso Robles for less than 30 days, according to the resolution.
If passed, the TOT increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
“We felt there was an opportunity to use some of the transient income to help fund our local priorities and not endanger our local tourism industry,” Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin said. “We’re very careful on how we calculate those expenditures.”
By increasing the tax on tourist stays from 10% to 11%, the city could generate between $700,000 and $800,000 in added tax revenue for the General Fund, according to an an analysis of the measure by the city attorney’s office.
Martin said the last time the city increased the bed tax was on Nov. 7, 1995, when it increased the rate from 9% to 10%, according to the city Finance Department.
How much do tourists pay in taxes to stay in Paso Robles?
Currently, visitors to Paso Robles pay a 10% transient occupancy tax along with two other taxes: 1.5% from the San Luis Obispo Tourism Marketing District assessment and a 2% Paso Robles Tourism Improvement District assessment, according to an analysis of Measure F-22 by the city attorney’s office.
Increasing the TOT from 10% to 11% will bring the total tourist assessment up from 13.5% to 14.5%.
What will tourist tax revenue go toward?
The revenue generated by the TOT is allocated to Paso Robles’ General Fund.
While Martin said he can’t identify which initiatives that TOT revenue would fund dollar for dollar, he can speak generally about how the General Fund is used to fund local priorities.
“Our city expenditures are prioritized around three things citizens said are important to them: Public safety, street maintenance and economic development,” Martin said.
Martin said he hopes voters will take the information available to make an informed decisions about the TOT increase.
“I think the important things are that we follow the priorities set by our community and find revenues that will cover those priorities in ways that will not impact local residents,” Martin said.
