1 City Council Meeting: December 13, 2022 Santa Monica, California RESOLUTION NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA ESTABLISHING MARCH 1, 2023 AS THE
IMPLEMENTATION DATE OF THE TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX RATES IN
MEASURE CS
WHEREAS, Article XI, section 5, subdivision (a) of the California Constitution gives charter cities, including the City of Santa Monica, the power to “make and enforce all ordinances and regulations in respect to municipal affairs, subject only to restrictions and limitations” contained in their own charters; and
WHEREAS, the constitutional power of charter cities to regulate their own municipal affairs has been held to include the power to tax local businesses for revenue purposes; and
WHEREAS, Revenue and Taxation Code sections 7280 et seq. authorizes cities to impose a transient occupancy tax; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 6.68 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code imposes a 14% tax on the privilege of occupancy in a hotel within the City, commonly known as the transient occupancy tax (“TOT”); and
WHEREAS, on or about June 28, 2022, the City Council of the City of Santa Monica (the “City Council”) voted in favor of placing a measure on the November 8, 2022 ballot which would increase the TOT rate an additional 1% for hotels and an additional 3% for home-shares (“Measure CS”); and
WHEREAS, a majority of voters approved Measure CS at the November 8, 2022 general election; and
2 WHEREAS, under Elections Code section 9217, an ordinance approved by a vote of the people is deemed adopted on the date the Council certifies the election results indicating the measure received the required votes; and WHEREAS, on December 6, 2022, the City Council certified the November 8, 2022 election results, including the passing of Measure CS by a majority of voters; and WHEREAS, under the Elections Code, Measure CS would be operative on December 16, 2022; and
WHEREAS, local businesses, home-share operators, and home-sharing platforms would benefit from additional time to update their billing systems, marketing materials, and to complete other administrative changes to disclose and collect the increased TOT rates in Measure CS; and
WHEREAS, City staff would like to conduct additional outreach to local businesses, home-share operators, and home-sharing platforms to ensure a smooth transition to the new TOT rates; and
WHEREAS, implementing the TOT rates in Measure CS beginning on March 1, 2023 will provide local businesses with sufficient time to make the necessary changes to collect the new TOT tax rates and allow City staff to complete the recommended outreach.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council declares that the increased TOT rates set forth in Measure CS will be implemented on March 1, 2023.
SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect. 3 APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Douglas Sloan
City Attorney