Local agencies: transient occupancy taxes: short-term rental facilitator: collection.

Existing law authorizes a city, county, or city and county to impose taxes within its jurisdiction, as provided, including a transient occupancy tax, which is generally paid by a person for the privilege of occupying a room or rooms, or other living space, in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, or other lodging for a period of less than 30 days. This bill would authorize a local agency, defined to mean a city, county, or city and county, including a charter city, county, or city and county, to enact an ordinance exclusively delegating its authority to collect any transient occupancy tax imposed by that local agency on short-term rentals to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and to enter into a contract with the department for purposes of registration, rate posting, collection, and transmission of revenues necessary to collect and administer any transient occupancy tax imposed on a short-term rental as specified in this bill. This bill would define a short-term rental to mean the occupancy of a home, house, a room in a home or house, or other lodging that is not a hotel or motel in this state for a period of 30 days or less and under any other circumstances specified by the local agency in its ordinance that is facilitated by a short-term rental facilitator, as defined. This bill would require the department to perform those functions, as specified, and would require all local charges collected by the department to be deposited in the Local Charges for Short-term Rentals Fund, which would be created by the bill in the State Treasury. This bill would appropriate all amounts in the fund to the department and would require the department to transmit the funds to the local agencies periodically as promptly as feasible, as provided. This bill would require a short-term rental facilitator engaged in business in this state to be responsible for collecting from the purchaser any local charge imposed on a short-term rental by any local agency exclusively delegating its authority to the department pursuant to this bill to collect those charges and would require the short-term rental facilitator to register with the department. The bill would require the department to administer and collect the local charges pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would also make it a misdemeanor for any deputy, agent, clerk, or other officer or employee of the department, or any former officer or employee or other individual, who in the course of that individual's employment or duty has or had access to returns, reports, or documents required to be filed under this bill, to disclose or make known in any manner information as to the amount of any local charges or any particulars, including the business affairs of a corporation, set forth or disclosed therein. By extending the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, and imposing a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.