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Treasurer raises concerns about 'blanket checks' from short‑term rental platforms and reports strong TOT receipts
Summary
Treasurer Barbara Lopez told supervisors her office uses commercial services to identify vacation rentals, projects about $1.1M in TOT for the year, and warned that voluntary collection agreements with platforms like Airbnb yield 'blanket checks' without payer detail, complicating taxpayer identification.
Treasurer/Tax Collector Barbara Lopez briefed the board on transient occupancy tax (TOT) collection efforts and broader collection office operations. Lopez said the office uses professional services that scan listing platforms and alert staff to unregistered vacation rentals; she estimated around 300 short‑term rental accounts and projected closing TOT accounts receivable of roughly $1.1–$1.2 million for the fiscal year.
Lopez described voluntary collection agreements with platforms (Airbnb, VRBO) as a possible revenue source but warned of an operational difficulty: platforms may remit a single 'blanket check' and not provide owner addresses, which would complicate internal auditing and local compliance work. "The only problem with that is we get a blanket check. I don't know who that money belongs to," Lopez said.
The treasurer also discussed county collections workload and a vacant revenue‑recovery position that has been difficult to fill; she said filling and retaining that post would improve desk audits and compliance. Board members discussed options including increasing TOT via ballot measure and pursuing more desk audits once staffing is secured.
Lopez proposed the possibility of a voluntary collection agreement but said county counsel would need to advise on tracking and allocation of platform remittances.
