REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GEORGEANNE A. WHITE, City Manager
Office of the Mayor & City Manager
BY: SANTINO DANISI, City Controller/Finance Director
Finance Department
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a Voluntary Collection Agreement with Airbnb for collection of City of Fresno Transient Occupancy Tax and authorize the City Controller to execute Agreement
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council approve a voluntary collection agreement with Airbnb for collection of City of Fresno Transient Occupancy Tax and authorize the Director of Finance, or designee, to sign the agreement on behalf of the City. The agreement will facilitate the reporting, collection, and remittance of transient occupancy tax in accordance with Section 7-604 of the Fresno Municipal Code by Airbnb to the City of Fresno.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Article 6 of the Fresno Municipal Code establishes the Transient Room Tax Ordinance whereby any person establishing occupancy for a period of thirty consecutive days or less shall pay a Transient Occupancy Tax to the City of Fresno. Many occupants utilize internet-based platforms such as Airbnb to book their stays where hosts offer accommodations for guests and collect fees associated with the stay. The agreement with Airbnb will require the reporting, collecting and remittance of the Transient Occupancy Tax associated with any applicable stays booked through their platform. Airbnb requires this agreement in order to execute the activities aforementioned.
BACKGROUND
On April 27, 2023 City Council approved an amendment of Section 7-602 of the Fresno Municipal Code which expanded the definition of ‘Operator’ to include internet-based crowd sourcing platforms such as Airbnb. This change requires the collection and remittance of the required Transient Occupancy Tax to the City of Fresno by the crowd sourcing platform.
Operators of short-term rentals are required to register for a short-term rental permit if intending to rent space for 31 days or more in a year. Additionally, the operators are required to collect and remit Transient Occupancy Tax to the City of Fresno.
The agreement with Airbnb will require the collection of the Transient Occupancy Tax to occur at the time of booking and will result in increased compliance with Article 6 of the Fresno Municipal Code and expedite tax remittance for amounts owed.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, this item is not a project for the purposes of CEQA
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this is not an agreement for materials, supplies, equipment or services.
FISCAL IMPACT
It is anticipated that the agreement will result in increased collection of Transient Occupancy Tax.
Attachments:
City of Fresno Voluntary Collection Agreement