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Cities and counties press for platform data to enforce short‑term rental rules and collect TOT
Summary
Sen. Susan Rosso (presentation) and municipal officials urged SB 346 to require short-term rental platforms to provide property addresses and transaction data to local governments so jurisdictions can enforce local ordinances and accurately collect transient occupancy tax (TOT). Platforms warned the bill should not replace existing administrative
Sen. Susan Rosso presented SB 346 to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, saying the bill would give local governments access to property addresses and related listing data from short‑term rental platforms so jurisdictions can enforce local short‑term rental ordinances and ensure correct collection of transient occupancy taxes (TOT).
Supporters included county treasurers and tax collectors, the League of California Cities, the California Hotel and Lodging Association and many cities and counties. Karen Lang, representing county treasurers and tax collectors, said platforms sometimes offer voluntary collection agreements that prohibit local governments from receiving addresses, leaving jurisdictions unable to verify whether the amount of TOT remitted matches the underlying listings. Municipal witnesses described the time and staff resources spent identifying and enforcing against unlicensed listings.
Platform representatives including Airbnb and Expedia said they already provide city portals and will respond to properly served administrative subpoenas, but they opposed statutory language that would require routine sharing of physical addresses without a legal process. Tech and marketplace witnesses cautioned against language that could produce inconsistent legal outcomes and urged local governments to use administrative‑subpoenas or negotiated data‑sharing agreements tied to enforcement.
Committee members and numerous municipal witnesses said a statutory statewide standard will help cities, particularly smaller jurisdictions that lack broad legal resources. The committee recorded a motion to refer SB 346 as amended to the Appropriations Committee.
