Mission Viejo residents will find a proposal to increase the city’s lodging tax on their November ballots.
The City Council, on Tuesday, July 9, unanimously approved placing a transient occupancy tax increase on the upcoming general election ballot. This tax, collected by hotels and other lodging facilities, including Airbnb and Vrbo, contributes to the city’s general revenue.
Currently, the lodging tax is 8% of the total room charge in Mission Viejo, the lowest in Orange County. If the measure is approved in November, it would increase the tax to 12%, placing Mission Viejo as the fourth-highest transient occupancy tax in the county.
City officials have said the tax increase is expected to generate an additional $670,000 more in revenue each year, and if voters approve it, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
“This is seen as good governance or good stewardship kind of action,” city attorney William Curley said. “This doesn’t affect the current property owner and doesn’t do anything to any current Mission Viejo residents. What it does do is allow the city parity or fairness both in the marketplace but to all of those using our amenities and resources, they get to pay a fair share.”
The proposal to raise the lodging tax in Mission Viejo stemmed from input gathered in a community survey. Residents in the survey expressed a desire for an increased tax rate to address areas they feel the city needs improvement.
Residents said if the increase is passed, they would like to see the extra money go toward “police, crime prevention and 911 emergency response,” “repairing streets, sidewalks, storm drains and infrastructure” and “keeping parks, trails and community facilities safe, clean and well-maintained.”
The city’s survey of 987 Mission Viejo residents found 70% would support the measure.
In January, city officials updated the language of the city’s transient occupancy tax, ensuring tax was being collected on short-term rentals, including people who rent parts of their homes on sites like Airbnb or Vrbo.
Since then, the city has also implemented an outreach program, sending letters to short-term rental property owners asking them to register their property with the city. Through this program, an additional 30 homes registered with the city as short-term rentals. Mission Viejo now estimates it has about 200 short-term rental properties in the city, Cheryl Dyas, the director of administrative services said.
Property owners who still need to register their short-term rentals can visit the city’s website for more information, Dyas said.
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