RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, ORDERING, CALLING, PROVIDING FOR AND GIVING NOTICE OF A MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON JUNE 2, 2026 FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, A MEASURE TO UPDATE THE CITY’S TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX UNTIL ENDED BY THE VOTERS.
WHEREAS, the City of Riverside has an existing transient occupancy tax ordinance which is set forth in Chapter 5.32 of the Riverside Municipal Code and which was initially adopted by the City in 1966, and which provides for a tax to be imposed on the privilege of occupying rooms within hotels, motels, inns and other dwelling units within the City for periods of less than thirty days; and WHEREAS, the existing transient occupancy tax rate set forth in Chapter 5.32 has not been updated since 2014; and WHEREAS, the City Council now desires to provide for an update of the transient occupancy tax rate, by increasing the tax rate from thirteen percent (13%) to fourteen percent (14%); and WHEREAS, Article XIIIC of the California Constitution and Government Code section 53723, require that such a general tax must be submitted to, and approved by, a majority of those qualified electors voting in an election to be held on the issue of imposing the general tax; and WHEREAS, the proposed measure can address community identified City service priorities such as, maintaining 911, fire and police response, preventing property crimes, such as theft and home burglaries, preparing for and responding to wildfires, keeping public areas safe and clean, preventing homeless encampment fires and recruiting and retaining well-trained firefighters and paramedics; and WHEREAS, the proposed measure is not a tax on Riverside residents or taxpayers who are not Riverside hotel or motel guests; and WHEREAS, the proposed measure allows visitors to the City of Riverside to contribute towards the local impacts of tourism and the cost to maintain the 911 services, streets and roads that they use; and WHEREAS, existing voter approved transient occupancy tax (TOT) funding has maintained public safety services in Riverside; and WHEREAS, approximately 70% of all 911 calls to the Riverside Fire Department require emergency medical attention, including heart attacks incidents; according to the American Heart Association, strokes and brain deterioration can start between four to six minutes after a person stops breathing and the City needs to be able to maintain fast emergency response times; and WHEREAS, the City needs to have the ability to fight gang violence by maintaining anti-gang programs for at-risk youth, and keeping gang members and drug dealers from nearby communities out of our City; and WHEREAS, the measure will include strict accountability provisions including public disclosure of all spending, annual independent financial audits, and performance reports available online, and with all funds generated by the measure used exclusively for the City of Riverside community WHEREAS, pursuant to Elections Code section 9222, the City Council has authority to place local measures on the ballot to be considered at a municipal election; and WHEREAS, on January 6, 2026, the City Council adopted Resolution 24342, ordering, calling, providing for and giving notice of a General Municipal Election to be held in the City of Riverside on the 2nd day of June, 2026, for the purpose of electing a member of the City Council for the second, fourth, and sixth wards of the City of Riverside, and giving notice and ordering that said General Municipal Election is consolidated with all other elections being held in the same territory on the same date; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to submit a ballot measure to the voters at the June 2, 2026 General Municipal Election.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Riverside, on the basis of the foregoing recitals and staff reports submitted by City staff at the March 3, 2026 City Council meeting, as follows:
Section 1: The City Council, pursuant to its right and authority under California law, approves the proposed ordinance as set forth on Exhibit “1”, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, and hereby orders that the following measure to be submitted to the qualified electors of the City of Riverside at the general municipal election to be held on June 2, 2026:
City of Riverside Hotel Tax Measure. To maintain local funding federal/state governments cannot take and City funds for services such as public safety; youth/senior programs; libraries/parks; improve the City of Riverside Convention Center to promote tourism/economic growth, shall the measure updating the City’s existing transient occupancy tax (paid only by hotel/motel guests) from 13% to 14%, providing approximately $640,000 annually until ended by voters; requiring audits and public spending disclosure, be adopted? Section 2: That only the qualified electors of the City of Riverside are entitled to vote at said election on this measure and that if a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure votes in favor of the measure, the measure shall be deemed approved.
Section 3: The City Clerk is directed to transmit a copy of the measure to the City Attorney, wherein an impartial analysis of the measure shall be prepared pursuant to Elections Code section 9280, showing the effect on the existing law and the operation of the measure. The analysis shall be printed preceding the arguments for and against the measure.
Section 4: That in accordance with the provisions of Section 501 of the Charter of the City of Riverside and the Constitution and election laws of the State of California, a municipal election be held and the same is hereby called and ordered to be held in the City of Riverside on June 2, 2026, for the purpose of submitting a measure to adopt an ordinance amending Chapter 5.32 of the Riverside Municipal Code to increase the City’s transient occupancy tax to 14% until ended by the voters.
Section 5: That in accordance with Section 10403 of the Elections Code, the City Council hereby requests the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to consent to consolidation of the municipal election with the Statewide election to be held on the same day.
Section 6: That the City Council consents to the consolidation of the municipal election hereby called with all other elections being held in the same territory on June 2, 2026, and said elections, where possible, shall be held in all respects as if there were only one election within the City of Riverside and only one form of ballot shall be used and the precincts, polling places and officers of election for said elections shall be the same as provided for the municipal election.
Section 7: That for the purpose of holding said municipal election there shall be and hereby are established consolidated voting precincts, consisting of a consolidation of the regular election precincts in the City of Riverside established for the holding of state and county elections as said regular election precincts exist on the date of this resolution.
Section 8: That the form and contents of the ballots to be used at the said election shall be as provided by law.
Section 9: That the polls for said election shall be opened at 7:00 a.m. of the day of said election and shall remain open continuously from said time until 8:00 p.m. of the same day, when the polls shall be closed, except as provided in Section 14401 of the Elections Code.
Section 10: That in accordance with Section 10002 of the Elections Code, the Board of Supervisors of Riverside County is hereby requested to consent to the Registrar of Voters rendering election services to the City of Riverside as may be requested by the City Clerk of said City, the County of Riverside to be reimbursed in full for such services as are performed.
Section 11: That the City Clerk shall have charge of all City elections pursuant to Riverside City Charter Section 703(f).
Section 12: That the City Clerk is hereby designated the “Elections Official” for the purposes of this election pursuant to Elections Code section 320(b).
Section 13: That based upon the foregoing authority, the City Clerk shall have charge of this election and shall make all determinations necessary to conduct this election.
Section 14: Pursuant to Section 9298 of the Election Code, the City Council, or any member or members of the City Council authorized by the body, or any individual voter who is eligible to vote on the measure or bona fide association of citizens, or any combination of voters and associations, may file a written argument, not to exceed 300 words in length, accompanied by the printed name(s) and signature(s) of the person(s) submitting it, or if submitted on behalf of an organization, the name of the organization, and the printed name and signature of at least one of its principal officers, for or against the measure. In the event that more than one argument for or against a measure is timely submitted, the City's Elections Official shall give preference and priority in the order set forth in Section 9287 of the Elections Code.
Section 15: The City Council elects to authorize rebuttal arguments pursuant to Elections Code Section 9285. When the City' s Elections Official has selected the arguments for and against the measure to be printed and distributed to the voters, the elections official shall send copies of the argument in favor of the measure to the authors of the argument against, and copies of the argument against to the authors of the argument in favor. The author or a majority of the authors of an argument relating to the foregoing city measure may prepare and submit a rebuttal argument not to exceed two hundred and fifty (250) words in length. The rebuttal arguments shall be filed with the City Clerk not more than ten (10) days after the final date for filing direct arguments.
Section 16: That the City Clerk of said City shall receive the canvass of the municipal election and shall certify the results to this City Council, as required by law.
ADOPTED by the City Council this _________ day of _____________, 2026. ___________________________
PATRICIA LOCK DAWSON
Mayor of the City of Riverside
Attest:
_____________________________
DONESIA GAUSE
City Clerk of the City of Riverside
I, Donesia Gause, City Clerk of the City of Riverside, California, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly adopted at a meeting of the City Council on the _______ day of _______________, 2026, by the following vote, to wit:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Riverside, California, this ________ day of ______________, 2026. _________________________________
DONESIA GAUSE
City Clerk of the City of Riverside
313327 RMS 2/19/2026
Exhibit “1”
ORDINANCE
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10 City Attorney’s Office3750 University Ave., STE. 250Riverside, CA 92501(951) 826-5567City Attorney’s Office3750 University Ave., STE. 250Riverside, CA 92501(951) 826-5567 City Attorney’s Office
3750 University Ave., STE. 250
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
City Attorney’s Office
3750 University Ave., STE. 250
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
City Attorney’s Office3750 University Ave., STE. 250Riverside, CA 92501(951) 826-5567City Attorney’s Office3750 University Ave., STE. 250Riverside, CA 92501(951) 826-5567 City Attorney’s Office
3750 University Ave., STE. 250
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
City Attorney’s Office
3750 University Ave., STE. 250
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
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