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West Hollywood council approves early modification to tourism district, OKs proposal to raise assessment to 4%
Summary
The City Council voted to end the current West Hollywood Tourism Improvement District on March 31, 2026, and to authorize a renewal starting April 1 with an increased assessment rate from 3% to 4%; Visit West Hollywood presented projections the extra percentage could boost local TOT by roughly $1.2 million per year and support roughly 300 tourism-related jobs over the contract period.
The West Hollywood City Council adopted a resolution to modify the West Hollywood Tourism Improvement District, ending the current term on March 31, 2026, and approving a renewal beginning April 1 with a proposed assessment increase from 3% to 4%. The action was taken after a brief staff report and a presentation from Visit West Hollywood.
Laura Birey, the city’s director of economic development, introduced the public hearings and identified staff and Visit West Hollywood representatives who would present the item. Tom Keeley of Visit West Hollywood summarized recent occupancy and rate trends, telling the council that while hotel occupancy has generally declined since 2016, room rates have risen. “Occupancy has gone down; room rates have gone up,” Keeley said, meaning the city and Visit West Hollywood have generated more TOT revenue even with lower occupancy.
Keeley presented Visit West Hollywood’s case for an extra 1 percentage point on the assessment, saying the group retained Tourism Economics (a division of Oxford Economics) to quantify the impact. Keeley said the consultant estimated the additional 1% would increase the city’s transient occupancy tax collections by about $1.2 million per year on average over the contract period and create roughly 300 tourism-related jobs.
Council members asked procedural and clarifying questions; staff confirmed no majority protests were filed during the required noticing period. Leonard Lansey of the Chamber of Commerce spoke in support. The council closed the public hearings, moved to a vote, and adopted the resolution to modify the district.
The council’s approval sets up a renewed district and a higher assessment rate that Visit West Hollywood says will fund visitor marketing and related hotel-support programs. City staff said the district’s work is funded entirely by an assessment on visiting guests and not by the general fund. The council did not specify additional implementation details in the public hearing; staff will return to cover final contract language and any follow-up steps required for the renewal.
