Monterey County elected leaders plan to ask voters in the unincorporated areas of the county to increase the hotel tax in November’s general election.
The county Board of Supervisors is trying to plug a projected $27 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year in part by increasing the tax from 10.5% to 12.5%.
The move would bring in an additional roughly $7.6 million a year for general services and would be the hotel tax rate — formally called the Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT — until voters undo the change in another election.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with the proposal at its meeting last week. County staff will finalize the ballot measure language and present it to the Board of Supervisors sometime in August, according to the county staff report.
The Transient Occupancy Tax is charged at hotels, motels and homes rented out by owners. It is also sometimes called a “bed tax.”
The tax was last increased in 1995 from 10% to 10.5%. A survey of about 500 voters in the unincorporated areas found support between about 60% and 67% for the increase. The measure would need a simple majority to pass.