Short-term vacation renters could see a new charge on their bill starting July 1st
Starting on Thursday, July 1st, anyone staying at a short-term vacation rental here in the Coachella Valley could see a new, additional charge on their bill.
The charge would represent approximately 1% of the total cost of the stay, and would show up on a bill as a “Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Assessment."
News Channel 3’s Madison Weil spoke with the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau to learn more about the new financial policy.
What is a Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID)?
“TBID is a common source of funding that lodging businesses use to create stable dedicated funding for marketing and promotion of a destination,” said Davis Meyer, Director of Partnership, Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Meyer explains the new 1% charged, called an assessment, will be collected and go towards the Tourism Business Improvement District, which is managed by the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau. She says the money is not a tax, as it does not go towards a city’s general fund to help pay for essential services, such as police and fire departments. The money, instead, goes towards marketing and promoting tourism within the Coachella Valley.
“Those funds are used to attract visitors, to attract convention and meetings, to attract new air service like Southwest into Palm Springs, and also to help recover from the pandemic,” said Meyer.
Who contributes to the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID)?
Meyer says hotels here in the valley with 50 or more rooms are already contributing to the TBID: 3% of their revenue. And now, starting on Thursday, short-term vacation rental owners will be asked to contribute 1% of their total rental revenue.
“Most of us are familiar with these on our hotel bills...if you’ve stayed anywhere in California pretty much you’ll see in addition other transient occupancy taxes that you’re paying, there are little assessment fees or a tourism assessment,” she said.
Boris Stark, CEO of Palm Desert Vacation Properties, said the assessment is a small price to pay in exchange for the customers the money is designed to attract: “The assessment is a small percentage, it’s 1% and it’s going to be beneficial in the long run,” he said.
“The assessment is going to be added to any booking fees or reservation that a guest has and that assessment is going to be collected by the vacation rental operator or by the homeowner that’s renting out their home,” he further explained.
Vacation rental owners or visitors with questions can learn more by visiting www.gpstbid.com.
