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Redondo Beach council directs staff to prepare ballot measure authorizing up to 15% TOT, signals intent toward 14%
Summary
After a broad discussion of hotel impacts, tourism returns and Olympic/World Cup timing, council unanimously directed staff to draft a measure authorizing the council to set the transient occupancy tax up to 15% and return with further analysis; council favored pursuing roughly 14% and asked for hotel-specific feedback and labor-market impact analysis.
The Redondo Beach City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare ballot materials that would authorize the council to set the city's transient occupancy tax (TOT) at up to 15 percent, with council members signaling an intent to move the rate to about 14 percent if supported. The action was procedural: it directs staff to draft ordinance and ballot materials and to return with analysis rather than immediately changing the tax.
Staff noted the city—s current TOT is 12 percent plus a 1 percent tourism-marketing assessment (effectively 13 percent). The finance presentation compared neighboring coastal cities and noted Redondo—s rate is relatively low; staff also reviewed the city's 2005 experience when voters approved a prior increase with roughly 54.7% support.
Rebecca Elder of Redondo Beach Tourism said a 1 percent increase to the marketing district would expand digital and out-of-home campaigns to raise awareness of Redondo Beach for large events (SoFi events, Olympics and other major draws), arguing the marketing would feed hotel demand. City Treasurer Eugene Solomon recommended building long-term flexibility into any measure and noted TBID bylaws require most district funds be spent on marketing.
Council members asked staff to return with additional, targeted information: hotel-operator feedback (including Marine Avenue hotels), elasticities by hotel class, likely revenue scenarios, and possible development incentives for new hotels (such as temporary reprieves for new projects or site-specific agreements). Council directed staff to prepare materials for a potential June ballot and to provide polling and additional economic analysis.
What happens next: staff will return with a draft ballot measure, revenue estimates and stakeholder analysis; council set a target timeline for the June election cycle if it chooses to proceed.
