HomeMy WebLinkAbout14 PRESERVE ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES - CITY OF TUSTIN TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAXAgenda Item 14
Reviewed:
AGENDA REPORT City Manager
Finance Director fA
MEETING DATE: JULY 3, 2018
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
SUBJECT: PRESERVE ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES - CITY OF TUSTIN
TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX
SUMMARY
In order to preserve essential City services, increasing the City of Tustin's Transient
Occupancy Tax ("TOT", or commonly referred to as the "hotel room tax") from 10% to
13% is presented to the City Council for consideration.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council direct staff to prepare a Resolution forthe July 17, 2018, City Council meeting
that submits a ballot measure asking Tustin voters to consider increasing the TOT from
10% to 13%.
FISCAL IMPACT
An increase of the TOT from 10% to 13% would result in approximately $480,000 added
annually to the General Fund.
COORELATION TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN
Voter approval of an increase in the hotel room tax would advance the City's Strategic
Plan Goal C of sustaining long-term financial strength with adequate reserves and
enhanced capacity to provide a sustainable level of City services, and its correlating
strategy to explore opportunities for new or increased revenues.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In 1978, the City Council adopted the City's TOT of 6%. The tax rate remained unchanged
until 2014, when the Tustin Chamber of Commerce requested that the City Council place
a measure on the November 4, 2014 ballot requesting voter approval to increase the
amount of the TOT to 10%. On November 4, 2014, Tustin voters approved increasing the
rate paid by hotel guests to 10%.
Agenda Report
July 3, 2018
Page 2
Tustin Quality of Life Survey
Beginning in April 2018, The National Research Center, Inc. conducted The National
Citizen Survey, mailing out 1 ,500 surveys to randomly selected Tustin residents, querying
about the quality of life in Tustin and services provided by the City. The responses have
a 95% level of confidence: 1) 93% of respondents rated public safety as very important
to essential, 2) 92% rated the overall economic health of Tustin as very important to
essential, and 3) 85% rated the overall ease of getting to the places you usually have to
visit as very important to essential. In response to the quality of services: 83% of
respondents rated the quality of police services good to excellent, and 97% rated fire
services good to excellent.
Increasing revenues to the City is important in meeting increasing operational and capital
costs. The City currently has five hotels and motels which generate approximately
$1 ,600,000 annually through transient occupancy taxes paid by the guests. The annual
revenue generated is 2.5% of the total revenues collected by the City. Increasing the
TOT will assist in offsetting some of the increasing operational and capital costs of
providing services and improvements.
Proposed Use of Additional Revenue from TOT
Public Safety (i.e., Police and Fire) comprise 57% of the General Fund and Public Works
comprises 20%. In order to maintain public safety, infrastructure, and our parks at the
standards expected by the community, Tustin is 1) upgrading existing parks with new
picnic shelters, playgrounds that meet current safety standards, and walking trails; 2)
improving our roadway system with complete streets that include bike lanes and
pedestrian enhancements, traffic signal synchronization, and by addressing traffic safety
on major arterials and the streets that serve our regional shopping centers; and 3)
planning to upgrade the current computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system used by the
Police Department; the replacement will need to meet current standards and future
needs. Additionally, the City needs to make other IT improvements to better serve the
public. In an another effort to improve public safety, the City will need to install security
surveillance systems at all public facilities, including the Tustin Area Senior Center, Tustin
Sports Park, Tustin Family &Youth Center, and Columbus Tustin Activity Center. Beyond
the initial capital investment for these systems, the ongoing licensing and maintenance
requirements will increase annual operating costs.
Orange County Cities
The City's current 10% TOT rate is paid by hotel and motel guests for stays of thirty days
or less. Anaheim and Garden Grove have a 15% and 14.5% TOT rate, while three
Orange County cities, La Habra, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Villa Park, have a 0% TOT
Agenda Report
July 3, 2018
Page 3
rate. Increasing Tustin's TOT rate by 3%, from 10% to 13%, would put Tustin near the
top of Orange County cities. A complete list of TOT rates in Orange County cities can be
found on Attachment A.
Conclusion
The survey results show that Tustin residents value public safety, parks, and
infrastructure. Increasing the TOT to 13% would provide an additional $480,000 to the
General Fund in offsetting costs associated with funding these essential City services.
In keeping with the City Council's policy of strong stewardship and fiscal accountability,
all funds may only be used to support city services in Tustin and all funds are subject to
annual general financial audits.
Attachment A: TOT rates for Orange County cities
ATTACHMENT A
City TOT Other Description
Anaheim 15%
Garden Grove 14.50%
Buena Park 12%
Laguna Beach 12%
Santa Ana 11%
Laguna Hills 10%
Aliso Viejo 10%
Brea 10%
Cypress 10%
Dana Point 10%
Fullerton 10%
Huntington Beach 10%
Laguna Woods 10%
Lake Forest 10%
Newport Beach 10%
Orange 10%
Placentia 10%
San Clemente 10%
San Juan Capistrano 10%
Tustin 10%
Yorba Linda 10%
Fountain Valley 9%
Seal Beach 9%
Costa Mesa 8% 3%
Business Improvement Assessment (BIA) ‐
Funds are used to promote and market the
hotels and the City
Irvine 8% 2%
Irvine Hotel Improvement District Assessment
Tax
La Palma 8%
Laguna Niguel 8%
Los Alamitos 8%
Mission Viejo 8%
Stanton 8%
Westminster 8%
La Habra 0%
Rancho Santa Margarita 0%
Villa Park 0%
TOT Rates ‐ Orange County Cities