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Council hears plan to pursue automated short‑term rental TOT collection; staff says implementation is on the task list
Summary
Staff and council discussed automating transient‑occupancy‑tax (TOT) collection from short‑term rental platforms (Airbnb/VRBO). Staff said the city has the connections and the project is on their list but requires ordinance drafting, system work and staff time; council asked staff to prioritize the effort.
A council member and city staff discussed steps to improve transient‑occupancy‑tax (TOT) collection from short‑term rental platforms, such as Airbnb and VRBO, and to automate reporting and remittance.
Stakeholders at the meeting said many hosts self‑report TOT today and that automating collection by requiring the platforms to remit directly to the city could increase TOT revenue materially. Community member Josh Johnson told council that other cities have implemented ordinances to require automatic collection by hosts or platforms and said Redding’s Visit Redding dashboard shows discrepancies between reported TOT and estimated bookings.
City staff said they have identified the technical and contractual contacts and have an implementation plan but that the work requires ordinance drafting, possible planning commission review and a nontrivial staff time investment. "We have the connections, it's just trying to get to the top of the list," a staff member said. Staff estimated the potential revenue could range from several hundred thousand dollars up to a larger amount in months with heavy bookings; staff suggested an initial conservative estimate of $250,000 in uncollected TOT in peak months as a plausible order of magnitude but said figures need verification.
Why it matters: automating TOT collection from short‑term rental platforms is a common municipal compliance measure that can close revenue leakage and ensure equitable taxation between hotels and short‑term rentals. Staff said the ordinance and collection mechanism could also allow the city to identify unpermitted short‑term rental activity.
Next steps: staff told council the work is on the to‑do list and that they will prioritize drafting an ordinance and the contract with a data vendor if council wants to move forward. Council members encouraged staff to bring the item back to a future meeting so the city can capture unreported TOT and better enforce short‑term rental rules if necessary.
Ending: staff noted the initiative will require an ordinance and implementation work; council members asked staff to bring the proposal forward and to prioritize it ahead of less‑urgent items.
