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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSS3 - Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms - TOTSEW PoR� CITY OF a� m NEWPORT REACH,' City Council Staff Report Agenda Item No. SS3 July 10, 2D12 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: Finance Department Tracy McCraner, Director/Treasurer 949 -644 -3123, lmccraner @newportbeachca.gov PREPARED BY: Evelyn Tseng, Revenue Manager APPROVED; TITLE: Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax ABSTRACT: Determine whether complimentary hotel rooms should be exempt from Transient Occupancy Tax ( "TOT'). RECOMMENDATION: After Council discussion, direct staff to: 1) Continue to impose TOT on complimentary rooms; 2) Exempt all complimentary rooms from TOT; 3) Exempt one or more of the following complimentary hotel rooms from TOT: a. Rooms provided to charitable organizations; b. Rooms provided to meeting planners who may book future businesses into that hotel; c. Rooms provided to disgruntled guests; and/or d. Rooms provided to hotel employees ( "house rooms "): or 4) Collect more information on the fiscal impact of the complimentary room exemption from TOT. Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax July 10, 2012 Page 2 FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: There is fiscal impact related to this item, but it is, as yet, undetermined. If Council chooses to exempt complimentary hotel rooms from TOT, there will be a decrease in revenues. DISCUSSION: Background Newport Beach Municipal Code ( "NBMC ") Section 3.16 requires hotel guests (transients) to pay 9% of the rent imposed by the hotel /operator as TOT and Section 3.28.020 requires hotel guests to pay 1% as a service fee. Of the amount collected, 18% is remitted to Visit Newport Beach, Inc. and the remaining 82% goes to the General Fund to help pay for City services. In the last three fiscal years, the TOT amounts received were as follows FY 2010 -11 $13,082,451 FY 2009 -10 $11,400,710 FY 2008 -09 $11,171,956 "Rent" is defined in NBMC Section 3.16.020 as: "... the consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy of space in a hotel valued in money, whether to be received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, and property and services of any kind or nature, without any deduction." Based on this provision, TOT, calculated on the room value provided by the hotel, has been imposed on all complimentary rooms. In an April 2012 letter, Gary Sherwin, President and CEO of Visit Newport Beach, Inc., informed the City that the Executive Committee of Visit Newport Beach voted unanimously to request that the City amend its TOT ordinance to exempt TOT on complimentary rooms. Mr. Sherwin opined that if complimentary rooms to charitable causes are assessed TOT, the number of rooms to charitable non - profit organizations would decrease, causing harm to those organizations in the area. In addition, hotels also provide complimentary rooms to meeting planners, who later bring business into the community. Because hotels do not enjoy providing complimentary rooms, they would only do so if there is a compelling reason, often for the community good, and imposing TOT would be penalizing them for their generosity. Earlier last month, the Marriott Hotel also requested that the City amend its ordinance to exempt complimentary rooms from TOT. The hotel also cited concern about causing financial harm to charitable non - profit organizations, and for penalizing hotels for their Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax July 10, 2012 Page 3 generosity, particularly for the meeting planners that could bring economic benefit to the City. What do other cities do? Staff surveyed other cities, and of the cities that responded, found the following: City Anaheim Bellflower j Comp rooms assessed TOT? j Yes No Beverly Hills - - -- -i — ✓ -_, —i ^ -� __J- -- Orange -- - -- -- Palm Springs - i r San Rafael San Diego--------- r- - - - - --- _..._ - - - - -- Santa Barbara 'S I I unnyva e (up to 1 % of occupied rooms) Vacaville (In this survey, complimentary rooms were defined as rooms provided to transients without exchange for service, or for barter, with no economic benefit to the hotel.) Issue /Analysis PROS: Charitable Support The City should support, as the hotels do, non - profit charitable organizations, particularly those in Newport Beach. Marketing Support Exempting complimentary hotel rooms from TOT would incentivize hotels to use complimentary rooms as a marketing tool, to encourage meeting planners, travel agents, etc., to come to Newport Beach and who would later book business and increase tourism to the City. Exempting complimentary hotel rooms from TOT is an investment in future revenues. Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax July 10, 2012 Page 4 Business Support Assuming hotels pay the TOT rather than assess the transients residing in its complimentary rooms, the City should not penalize hotels for supporting non - profit charities and for trying to increase revenues to the City. Other Cities Do It Most of the cities who responded to staff's survey DO exempt complimentary rooms from their TOT. CONS: Revenue Decrease Unfortunately, the City only collected complimentary room data from one hotel, so the estimated revenue decrease is, just that, an estimate. The TOT based on that hotel's complimentary and house room revenues report is (rooms complimentary to hotel employees) as follows: 2007 $13,057 2008 $16,140 2009 $8,240 By extrapolating those numbers as a percentage of total TOT reported by all hotels, the estimated TOT revenue on complimentary and house rooms would be: 2007 $106,819 2008 $138,969 2009 $86,883 Subsidy Regardless of the reasons hotels provide complimentary rooms, the occupants of those rooms are still transients who are the beneficiaries of City services. These services include police, fire, sewer, use of public right -of -way, street lighting, lifeguards, infrastructure maintenance and waste management. If the recipients of those complimentary rooms, or the hotels themselves, do not pay the TOT, other City revenues would have to be used to subsidize those services to the transients. Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax July 10, 2012 Page 5 Options Staff has outlined the following options for City Council to consider: 1. Maintain the current NBMC language, and continue to impose TOT on complimentary rooms. This option rejects City support to those persons or organizations that hotels have provided complimentary rooms to, but will continue to generate TOT on the complimentary rooms. 2. Exempt all complimentary rooms from TOT. This option would be tangible evidence of City's support for its hotels and tourism industry, but would decrease TOT revenues and force other revenue sources to subsidize those services. Of the above noted cities that exempt complimentary rooms from TOT, only Bellflower and Vacaville specifically exempt complimentary rooms in its Code. The other cities exempt complimentary rooms either through its definition of rent, transient, or by general policy. If Council elects this option, Finance staff would work with City Attorney's Office to amend its TOT ordinance. 3. Exempt one or more of the following complimentary rooms: a. Rooms for non - profit charitable organizations; b. Rooms for meeting planners; C_ Rooms for disgruntled guests; or d. House rooms. This option would lower the revenue decrease from exempting all complimentary rooms, but may increase the administrative time for hotel and City staff to track these specific exemptions. Generally speaking, Council may want to support the charitable organizations and tourism industry, but may not want to exempt rooms for unhappy guests or for hotel employees. If Council selects this option, Finance staff would work with City Attorney's Office to amend its TOT ordinance. 4. Direct staff to collect more information on the fiscal impact of the complimentary room exemption from TOT. This option would delay the exemption of complimentary rooms from TOT, but would provide Council with more information to make an informed decision about the exemption. Exempting Complimentary Hotel Rooms from Transient Occupancy Tax July 10, 2012 Page 6 If Council selects this option, staff may, at Council's direction: a. Survey hotels in Newport Beach as to the number of complimentary and house rooms provided to guests and staff, the room revenues associated with those rooms, and the total number of rooms available and sold for the same time period; or b. Meet with hotel controllers, to review their complimentary room data. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. R&l9 rig IJrel The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item). Submitted by: utarcy mcuraner Finance Directoi