AnonymousSource: City of Santa Barbara
The City of Santa Barbara collected approximately $1.02 million in transient occupancy taxes (TOT) for January 2019, which is 19.1% below collections from January last year. However, this significant decline is due to the fact that January 2018 TOT revenues were unusually high because of the Thomas Fire and debris flow event, which caused many area residents to stay in local hotels for extended stays. As a more telling comparison, the two-year growth from January 2017 to January 2019 is down 1.4%.
The City has collected approximately $11.7 million in TOT revenues through the first seven months of this fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. The City’s adopted TOT budget is $19,605,700.
The Transient Occupancy Tax table can be viewed here.
When the TOT misses, the city dips into our funds to pay for their overspending, overstaffing and of course, the debt they’ve amassed over the last 25+ years. In case you were wondering how the city pays for all their pet project, pensions and poor decisions… They actually don’t pay a penny. We the residents do. So be on the lookout for for a sales tax increase on the next ballot, more fees and fines and likely a few new bonds for your kids to pay…
You know City employees are often residents as well, who pay taxes…right?
So now they pay taxes…
Santa Barbara City Council Math 101
– We as a city have lots of expenses, more than we can afford.
– I have an idea, let’s ban AirBnB and other vacation rental income effectively reducing our taxable take to load up the city bank account.
– The next year, our tot tax is down, what happened? Oh no, Let’s call the mudslides the culprit.
Real answer: Yes mudslides reduced some tot for a period of time, but long term effects of other reductions and bans are now showing up. Now we have the downtown corridor less attractive. Continued bad decisions are going to turn SB into Biff’s world.
While they are paying taxes, they are taking far more from the people than they contribute back in tax. Making them a net loss to the books on every single measure. Unless there is some sort of extreme occurrence, government workers never generate more revenue than they cost. Can you name a single government role, local or not, where the individual produces a net gain for the government? I cant… There are no sales people, no entrepreneurs and not a single inventor producing anything new. By their very nature, they take from others. Not saying that’s a bad thing, as we need to maintain our city and our society. But city workers are by no measure contributing to the coffer if their income is paid from the coffer…
Hotel rooms in the area have gotten very expensive. The new Miramar rooms start at $800/night up to $5,500 (News Press). It used to be a vacation complex for middle class families before the big redo. Other hotels range in the $500 and up range, and motels $200 up. Some vistors are choosing VRBO and AirBnB out of necessity. And besides, the ever increasing tourist throngs on East Beach are not as pleasant as the sleepy old days when Santa Barbara and her beaches belonged to those who live, raise their kids and work here, not the hotel and tourist industry who control the City Council.
I am amazed of the GREED in the hotel industry locally. It’s absolutely insane what they are asking for a room in a hotel in SB, even in Goleta, Yeah, the Ritz Carlton- Barcarra $700 and up, but come on, $300+ for a room in town…? LOL!