UPDATE: SB 584 STOPPED FOR 2023 – NTCA
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UPDATE: SB 584 STOPPED FOR 2023

Fri | Jun 23, 2023

UPDATE: SB 584 STOPPED FOR 2023

North Lake Tahoe stakeholders:

I am contacting your today with great news! Thanks to advocacy efforts from all around California, and the direct activation of 946 individuals who sent in letters to Assembly Housing, we put a stop to SB 584 (Limon) for 2023.

SB 584 has been turned into a two-year bill, which means that it will not be heard in Assembly Housing & Community Development on Wednesday, June 28. The bill will be eligible for a hearing January 2024, if the author decides to move forward. It will still have to pass Assembly Housing and Assembly Revenue & Taxation and go through all of the similar hurdles it would have this year, but must move out of committees and off the Assembly Floor by the end of January. A much tighter timeframe and a steeper challenge for SB 584 to overcome. 

The next steps are that we will continue to monitor SB 584 and engage in discussions with the author’s office. If activation is needed, we will send out communications in 2024.

Thank you for your engagement on this critical issue! Together we raised our industry’s voice and asserted our economic impact on California’s economy. Thank you as well to CalTravel for their lobbying efforts on behalf of all of us in California.

You can see our original communication on SB 584 below.

Thanks,
Tony Karwowski
President and CEO, North Tahoe Community Alliance

Dear North Tahoe stakeholders,

I am contacting you to alert you to proposed legislation that will soon be up for a vote on the California State Assembly Floor and to request your immediate action in opposing the bill. If passed, it could have dire consequences for the health of our local economy and include other currently unforeseen impacts.

At our meeting on June 7, the North Tahoe Community Alliance Board of Directors elected to oppose the proposed bill SB 584. If enacted, the bill would impose a tax on the occupancy of a short-term rental (STR) in California at 15% of the rental price of the short-term rental. In North Lake Tahoe, this tax would be assessed on top of the 10% TOT tax and 2% TBID assessment already collected on STRs in Placer County that is being reinvested locally in transportation and workforce housing initiatives.

The bill would require all revenues (fewer refunds and reimbursement to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration of administration and collection costs) to be deposited into a newly created Laborforce Housing Fund. From there, funds would be allocated across the state at the discretion of the state legislature, NOT earmarked specifically for the creation of workforce housing in North Lake Tahoe.

The North Tahoe Community Alliance opposes this legislation because:

  • SB 584 would make the tax/TOT/and assessment fees on an STR total 27% locally, making North Lake Tahoe uncompetitive as a tourism region.
  • This bill would give the state legislature decision-making power over how this funding is used, and could severely impact the generation of locally controlled TOT and TBID funds.
  • Today, 17% of homes in Eastern Placer County have STR permits and are major contributors of both TOT and TBID funds. These funds are reinvested locally in workforce housing and transportation initiatives and tourism-based businesses through programs that were developed with widescale community input.
  • Rather than help us, this bill could have a tremendous, negative effect on our local, tourism-based economy that relies on lodging of all types to support our economy.
  • In addition, these exorbitant costs could impact visitor length of stay, frequency of stay, and ancillary spending at other local businesses.

Here is an overview of the provisions:

SB 584 (Limon) Laborforce housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law (Bill Text – SB-584 Laborforce housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law. (ca.gov))

The author’s office has said they are willing to continue working with the STR industry on the bill’s provisions, but no meaningful negotiations have taken place, which is why the North Tahoe Community Alliance is joining the growing list of opposition.

Other agencies including CalTravel and CalChamber are in opposition on the grounds that the bill proposes a 15% tax increase on one industry (and just one type of lodging).

Please consider calling or emailing your Assembly member to express the negative impacts this bill would have on our region. The sooner the better. We’ve included a sample letter below, as well as the contact information for the State Assembly members that represent our region.

You can also use the sample letter to reach out the State Assembly members via the CalTravel message board. Simply copy the letter below, fill in the message board linked here, and hit send.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, and thank you in advance for your support.

All my best,

Tony Karwowski
President and CEO, North Tahoe Community Alliance

State Assembly Contact For the Tahoe Region

Assemblymember Megan Dahle

(916) 319-2001 or email via her website

CalTravel online message board – use the letter below to send via this easy online portal

Sample Letter

Dear Assemblymember Dahle,

Please consider voting NO or abstaining on SB 584 (Limon) Laborforce Housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law when it is taken up on the Assembly Floor. The North Lake Tahoe region is vehemently opposed to this bill.

Our local economy is dependent on tourism, and if enacted, this bill could make us uncompetitive as a tourism destination. It could also create difficulties in renewing our TBID, which was passed by our local business community as a means of supporting community vitality, economic development, and sustainability efforts while freeing up TOT generated by overnight guests to specifically fund workforce housing initiatives in our area. 

Today, 17% of the homes in Eastern Placer County have STR permits, are a major funding source of our TBID, and already carry a 2% assessment, and 10% TOT.  These locally sourced and controlled public benefit dollars are reinvested to support transportation and workforce housing initiatives in the community. If passed, SB 584 would make the tax/TOT/and assessment fees on an STR total 27% locally.

North Lake Tahoe is not opposed to affordable housing creation, but adding additional assessments on one form of lodging to fund housing sets a bad precedent and could jeopardize our existing funding mechanisms in the future. The current AMI formula related to the proposed state program makes it difficult to utilize funds generated in our region to come back to the region for projects that support labor force housing.

Charging visitors a 27% total tax on their lodging could easily discourage them from traveling to North Lake Tahoe which would in turn affect other businesses in our community. Please consider voting NO on SB 584.

Thank you,

[Your Name]