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City of Blythe Hotel Tax, Measure X (November 2014)
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A City of Blythe Hotel Tax, Measure X ballot question was on the November 4, 2014 election ballot for voters in the city of Blythe in Riverside County, California. It was defeated.
If approved, Measure X would have increased the city's hotel tax from 10 percent to 13 percent for five years.[1]
Election results
| Riverside County Measure X | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 999 | 54.44% | ||
| Yes | 836 | 45.56% | ||
- Election results from Riverside County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The question on the ballot appeared as:[1]
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Shall the City of Blythe increase its transient occupancy tax (TOT) by 3%, to bring its transient occupancy tax to a rate of 13%, for a period of five years? [2] |
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Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis was prepared for Measure X:[1]
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As declared and reaffirmed by the Blythe City Council, the City continues to face a state of fiscal emergency due to the severe impact of the economic collapse caused by the Great Recession of recent years, as well as the collapse of the housing market, continuing California state takeaways, and insufficient tax revenues to cover government expenses. In response to this fiscal emergency, the City Council is asking the City’s voters to vote on Measure “X.” If approved by the voters, Measure “X” would increase the existing Transient Occupancy Tax rate by 3% (from 10% to 13%). Individuals, usually visitors to the City, pay this tax when they stay at any lodging facility within the City such as a hotel or motel. The tax only applies if the individual stays at the lodging facility for less than 30 consecutive days. The tax helps place the financial burden of providing additional local support services, like public safety, street maintenance, and upkeep of the City’s parks, on the visitors who contribute to this increased financial burden on the City. The tax payments are collected from the visitors by the property “operators” who then remit the amounts to the City. All proceeds of the tax will be deposited into the City’s General Fund to be used for all general municipal governmental purposes at the City’s discretion. This measure provides that the 3% Transient Occupancy Tax increase would expire in five years. Measure “X” was placed on the Ballot by the Blythe City Council. It will be adopted if it is approved by a majority of the voters voting on the measure. [2] |
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| —Christian Bettenhausen, Blythe City Attorney[1] | ||
Support
In general, supporters of higher hotel taxes argued that this type of tax is good because it requires visitors to the city to contribute some revenue to cover the city services they used while staying, such as public safety, parks and road and infrastructure maintenance. They also argued that the tax is a great way to create additional revenue for the city without increasing taxes for residents, since the tax is mainly paid by tourists and visitors.
Opposition
In general, opponents of increased hotel taxes were concerned the tax could hurt the tourism industry by making hotels outside the city cheaper and giving them a competitive advantage over hotels inside the city limits.
See also
- City tax on the ballot
- Local hotel tax on the ballot
- Riverside County, California ballot measures
- November 4, 2014 ballot measures in California
External links
Footnotes
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