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Oakland Hotel Tax, Measure C, July 2009
From Ballotpedia
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Measure C raises the hotel tax in Oakland from 11% to 14%. The ballot proposition was part of a package of four ballot measures on the July 21 ballot in Oakland intended to raise an additional $7-$8 million in tax revenue for the city.
- Yes: 76.6%
a
- No: 23.3%
With the enactment of Measure C, customers who chose to stay in lodging located in Oakland will have to pay an additional $3 of tax on a $100-a-night hotel bill.[2]
The city estimates that Measure C will raise $2.7 million in added revenues to the city. 50% of that estimated $2.7 million will go to the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau to fund campaigns to try to draw more visitors to Oakland.[2]
In order to pass, Measure C required a 2/3rds vote.
Text of measure
Documentary about the Chabot Space and Science Center |
The ballot question is, "To provide additional funding to the Oakland Zoo, the Oakland Museum of California, the Chabot Space and Science Center, cultural arts programs and festivals and the Oakland Convention and Visitor Bureau, shall the City of Oakland add a three percent (3%) surcharge to the current eleven percent (11%) Transient Occupancy Tax (Hotel Tax) that persons who stay in Oakland hotels pay?"
Mail-in ballot/cost of election
The election will be conducted as a mail-in ballot only election. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters office mailed out 205,000 ballots to registered voters in Oakland the week of June 22.[3] Ballots had to be returned by July 21, 2009.[4]
The cost of holding the election on Measure C, and the three other measures Oakland residents are being asked to consider, is $1.5 million.[3]
Supporters
Measure C was placed on the ballot by Oakland's city council. Councilmember Jean Quan (Montclair-Laurel) co-sponsored it. Quan tried unsuccessfully to get a hotel tax imposed in 2006.[2]
Background
The current City of Oakland Hotel Tax of 11% was expected in the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 budget of financially-stressed Oakland to bring in $12.7 million in revenues. However, as of the October 2008 mid-cycle budget estimates, city officials have come to believe that total revenues from the 11% tax will decline by about $2.6 million in Fiscal Year 2009-2010.
Ron Dellums, Mayor of Oakland, and others who support the hotel tax increase, believe that increasing the hotel tax will not deter people from staying in Oakland hotels, whereas those who oppose the tax say that travellers will choose hotels in nearby cities that have lower hotel taxes and that, therefore, the total income raised by the hotel tax will not go up if the tax is increased because fewer people will stay in Oakland.[5],[6]
Measure C is on the July 21 ballot along with three other measures that city politicians hope will raise additional tax revenues for the city, whose budget faced a growing deficit as its economically-struggling residents send in lower taxes than the city had previously estimated would come its way in 2009.
In advance of the July 21 vote, Oakland mayor Ron Dellums has agreed to:
- A 10% pay cut on his $183,000 annual salary.
- The elimination of discretionary accounts held by the city council and mayor known as "pay-go" accounts.
- To cut his own staff by 20%.[7]
Other measures on July 21 ballot
- Oakland Kids First! Funding, Measure D, July 2009
- Oakland Marijuana Tax, Measure F, July 2009
- Oakland Transfer Tax Clarification, Measure H, July 2009
External links
- Measures on the City of Oakland July 21 ballot
- Website supporting Measure C
- Measure C on Smart Voter
- League of Women Voters of Oakland Voter's Guide
- Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau website
References
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Oakland ballot measures pass easily", July 22, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Inside Bay Area, "Measure C: Hotel Tax hike for marketing, cultural destinations", June 23, 2009
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Inside Bay Area, "Pot, hotels, youth programs, tax code part of summer vote in Oakland", June 24, 2009
- ↑ The Oakbook, "Op-ed: Oakland's Business Issues", June 2, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Oakland council sends hotel tax hike to vote", March 5, 2009
- ↑ Oakland Focus, "Increasing the Oakland Hotel Tax is Rather Silly", March 4, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Dellums agrees to pay cut, 20% staff reduction", June 17, 2009
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