City is considering voting to increase hotel tax in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES. City Council members Tim McOsker and Bob Blumenfield submitted a motion Friday to get a report from the city’s finance department on a possible vote to change the way the hotel room tax is calculated.

As part of what is officially known as the Temporary Employment Tax, online travel companies collect and remit the tax on the discounted and/or wholesale room rate agreed with the hotel, not on the actual amount the guest pays for the room.

McOsker and Bloomenfield are trying to figure out how much tax revenue the city would increase if the tax was based on the amount paid for lodging rather than wholesale or subsidized rates.

Inglewood voters increased their Temporary Residence Tax (TOT) under Measure H in a special election held in November 2021. Voters overwhelmingly supported a tax increase from 14% to 15.5%, which is expected to bring in an additional $730,000 a year.

Under the proposal, Measure J, approved by Anaheim voters in November, based on a tax on the full retail amount, could guarantee up to $3 million in additional hotel tax revenue per year. In fiscal year 2021-22, Anaheim raised $267 million from hotel tax, the petition says.

2UrbanGirls contributed to this report.

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