Proposed unincorporated San Mateo County tax on visitors

Pacifica did pass a ballot measure (11/10) to increase it's tourist hotel tax from 10% to 12%.  Tax ethics 101:  tax a tourist, they are the "outsiders" who may never return.  

Palo Alto Daily News/Bonnie Eslinger, 2/11/12.  San Mateo County residents in June may be asked to authorize the county to jack up the tax on hotel rooms and to start taxing commercial parking lot and rental car operators.  

"Just kidding, you'll have to pay the tax anyway."

The three tax measures that the Board of Supervisors will review Tuesday would apply only to unincorporated areas, including San Francisco International Airport.

Unless the board expresses reservations, it is scheduled to decide Feb. 28 whether to place the measures on the June primary election ballot. If all three measures are approved, together they would generate almost $13 million in annual revenue for the county.

The supervisors have suggested that the money is needed to help balance the county's budget, which continues to encounter deficits year after year. The county would have faced a $77 million deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal year if it didn't decide to draw heavily from its reserves. And County Manager John Maltbie last month told the board the deficit in the 2016-17 budget is projected at $149 million.

The cost of placing the three measures on the June ballot is estimated at $280,000. One of the measures would increase the Transient Occupancy Tax on hotel rates from 10 to 12 percent. The county currently receives about $1 million a year from that tax and expects to pick up an additional $200,000 annually with the boost.

Help!

The proposed business license fee for operators of commercial parking lots would amount to 8 percent of their gross receipts. The fee would apply to parking facilities in unincorporated areas, including valet parking at restaurants and hotels as well as SFO. They would generate almost $5 million a year, the county estimates. 

The third measure would tax car rental companies at a rate of 2½ percent of their gross receipts, for an annual amount estimated at more than $7.7 million. 

Although the proposed taxes largely would affect tourists, their passage isn't a sure bet. In November 2008, two similar measures pushed by the county were defeated. Measure Q, an 8 percent parking tax measure, was rejected by 52.6 percent of the voters and Measure R, a 2½ percent rental car tax, went down with 52.9 percent opposed."

Posted by Kathy Meeh