St. Helena, California, Measure E, Hotel Tax for Housing (November 2018)
| Measure E: St. Helena Hotel Tax for Housing |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 6, 2018 |
| Status: |
 ApprovedMajority required: 66.67% |
| Topic: |
| Local hotel tax Expires in: No expiration |
| Related articles |
| Local hotel tax on the ballot November 6, 2018 ballot measures in California Napa County, California ballot measures City tax on the ballot |
| See also |
| St. Helena, California |
A hotel tax increase was on the ballot for St. Helena voters in Napa County, California, on November 6, 2018. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of allowing the city to increase the hotel tax rate from 12 percent to 13 percent to fund workforce housing. |
| A no vote was a vote against allowing the city to increase the hotel tax rate from 12 percent to 13 percent to fund workforce housing. |
Election results
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St. Helena Measure E |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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2,112 | 80.83% | ||
| No | 501 | 19.17% | ||
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- Results are officially certified.
- Source
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ |
To increase, improve, and preserve affordable and workforce housing in the City of St. Helena, shall an ordinance be adopted to levy an ongoing transient occupancy tax (hotel tax) of 1% on hotel charges to visitors of 30 days or less, increasing the maximum hotel tax rate from 12% to 13%, with all revenue from the new tax (estimated: $279, 000 annually) to be restricted to providing programs and services for affordable and workforce housing?[2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the St. Helena City Clerk:
| “ |
The St. Helena City Council has placed Measure E on the ballot. Measure E would increase the existing transient occupancy tax on rental of hotel rooms, referred to as the “TOT,” by one percent (1%) within St. Helena. All revenues from the increase would be restricted to programs and services for affordable and workforce housing. Currently, the TOT rate in St. Helena is 12% of the room rental rate. Measure E would increase the TOT rate by 1%, to 13% of the room rent. This is in addition to a 2% Napa Valley Tourism Improvement District assessment that is currently imposed on hotels and passed on to hotel visitors. The effective rate of the City’s TOT combined with the assessment, now 14%, would be 15% if St. Helena’s voters approve Measure E. The tax is paid only by persons, primarily visitors, who rent hotel rooms for 30 days or less. The 1% increase would result in additional revenue of approximately $279,000 annually, and has no sunset provision. Affordable and workforce housing services and programs funded from Measure E include activities to increase, improve and preserve the City’s supply of rental and for-sale housing for households earning up to 120% of area median income. Examples include construction of new affordable housing, conversion of market rate units to affordable units, preservation, rehabilitation, or maintenance of affordable units, and acquisition of real property for any of the programs. Households eligible to occupy housing funded by this 1% increase include “moderate income households” (earning up to 120% of area median income), “median income households” (up to 100% of area median income), “low-income households” or “lower income households” (up to 80% of area median income), “very low-income households” (up to 50% of area median income), or an “extremely low income household” (up to 30% of area median income). The current median income for a four person household in Napa County is $91,000.00. Because Measure E restricts the use of tax revenue from the 1% increase to programs and services for affordable and workforce housing, it is a “special tax.” All revenues would be placed in a separate account and would not be comingled with other City funds. An annual report must be filed detailing the amount of special tax revenues collected and expended. Measure E will be approved if at least two-thirds of those voting vote “Yes”. A “Yes” vote is a vote in favor of the tax. A “No” vote is a vote against the tax. Voters in St. Helena also will have an opportunity to vote on a similar Napa County Measure I. Measure I will only impact taxes charged in hotels located outside the City limits.[2] |
” |
| —St. Helena City Clerk[3] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of St. Helena, California.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ St. Helena, California, "The City Council has placed Measure E on the November 6th General Municipal Election," accessed September 21, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ County of Napa, "Impartial Analysis Measure E," accessed September 22, 2018
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