Monterey County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
Vacation Rentals Enforcement in Monterey County: Little Progress Despite Years of Struggle
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 12 findings
F1
Adobe PDF14 documents are currently used by TTC to enable Vacation Rental Operators to submit TOT Registration applications. TTC must then manually input the data into the necessary software database application. This manual data input process is inefficient and increases the possibility of introducing errors.
Related Recommendations (3)
R1
The Treasurer-Tax Collectors Department should migrate Vacation Rental TOT registration to an online software service with an electronic database repository to allow applicants to apply and check application status directly through the County website, and which also allows the general public to verify whether a given property is registered and possesses a valid TOT Certificate. (F1, F2) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R3
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement an online system for direct public access to file complaints and obtain the status of enforcement action and complaint resolution. This system should be implemented in such a way that that complete, consolidated electronic records including TOT registrations 21 and Vacation Rental zoning permits can be easily maintained, searched, and referenced by street address and APN. (F1, F2, F7, F8) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F2
Because data on properties which are currently registered and paying TOT is not publicly available on the County website, unnecessary additional email requests for information are received and processed manually by TTC.
Related Recommendations (3)
R1
The Treasurer-Tax Collectors Department should migrate Vacation Rental TOT registration to an online software service with an electronic database repository to allow applicants to apply and check application status directly through the County website, and which also allows the general public to verify whether a given property is registered and possesses a valid TOT Certificate. (F1, F2) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R3
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement an online system for direct public access to file complaints and obtain the status of enforcement action and complaint resolution. This system should be implemented in such a way that that complete, consolidated electronic records including TOT registrations 21 and Vacation Rental zoning permits can be easily maintained, searched, and referenced by street address and APN. (F1, F2, F7, F8) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F3
Current accounting methods and database systems in TTC do not allow Vacation Rental TOT tax revenues to be easily broken out from other TOT classifications such as hotels and B&Bs, thereby reducing transparency and limiting data available for management and decision making.
Related Recommendations (2)
R2
The Treasurer-Tax Collectors Department should construct an online records system and require Vacation Rental operators to directly enter visitor occupancy data (including specific occupancy dates, number of occupants, number of rooms rented, and revenues received) in near real time, thereby facilitating tax verification and code compliance related activities. (F3, F4) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F4
Due to current quarterly TOT reporting methods, Vacation Rental occupancy data that is both timely and contains sufficient detail for use in CCD complaint investigation and enforcement activities is not readily available.
Related Recommendations (2)
R2
The Treasurer-Tax Collectors Department should construct an online records system and require Vacation Rental operators to directly enter visitor occupancy data (including specific occupancy dates, number of occupants, number of rooms rented, and revenues received) in near real time, thereby facilitating tax verification and code compliance related activities. (F3, F4) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F5
Vacation Rental complaints often occur at night or during weekends. Due to current budget allocations and staffing levels for Code Enforcement, complaint investigation timeliness and effectiveness is impacted by the lack of 24x7 coverage.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F6
CCD classifies Vacation Rental complaints as Priority 3 and therefore only reacts when there are immediate concerns for Life, Health, or Safety. Due to current 14 Portable Document Format (PDF), registered trademark Adobe Corp. 19 budget allocations and staffing levels for Code Enforcement, proactive enforcement of applicable zoning ordinances is precluded thereby encouraging the growth of unpermitted Vacation Rentals.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F7
Online public access to complaint information is limited by poor web portal design, the lack of a common database between TTC and CCD, and insufficient internal staff necessary to perform timely processing of Vacation Rental complaints. It is therefore difficult for the general public to determine, with respect to a given property, whether complaints have been registered against that property, how many such complaints have been made, and the disposition of individual complaints.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement an online system for direct public access to file complaints and obtain the status of enforcement action and complaint resolution. This system should be implemented in such a way that that complete, consolidated electronic records including TOT registrations 21 and Vacation Rental zoning permits can be easily maintained, searched, and referenced by street address and APN. (F1, F2, F7, F8) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F8
While the capability exists for TTC to access the Code Compliance database for Vacation Rental zoning information and complaint information, and similarly CCD is able to request TOT registration data from the Tax Collector’s office, the Civil Grand Jury could find no evidence that such direct cross checking occurs as a standard practice thereby contributing to the growth of unpermitted Vacation Rentals which are nevertheless registered for TOT.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement an online system for direct public access to file complaints and obtain the status of enforcement action and complaint resolution. This system should be implemented in such a way that that complete, consolidated electronic records including TOT registrations 21 and Vacation Rental zoning permits can be easily maintained, searched, and referenced by street address and APN. (F1, F2, F7, F8) This capability should be operational after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R4
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement Internal process changes to ensure future alignment between County departments in the registration, permitting, licensing, and enforcement of vacation rental businesses. (F8, F9) These process changes should be implemented after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F9
Implicit internal acknowledgement of the desire not to negatively impact TOT revenue has contributed to a reluctance on the part of CCD to actively enforce applicable Vacation Rental zoning ordinances. The lack of consistency between TTC and CCD in enforcing Vacation Rental ordinances has served to further increase public confusion and community tension.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department and Department of Housing and Community Development should implement Internal process changes to ensure future alignment between County departments in the registration, permitting, licensing, and enforcement of vacation rental businesses. (F8, F9) These process changes should be implemented after the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F10
Due to the potential increase in secondary housing units resulting from newly enacted County ADU ordinances, coupled with the current Priority Three reactive Vacation Rental enforcement policies, increased community tension and complaints with respect to Vacation Rentals are likely to result.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The Board of Supervisors should authorize the development of a comprehensive Vacation Rental enforcement program funded through revenue generated from TOT tax receipts, zoning permit fees, and zoning ordinance violation penalties in a manner similar to the Cannabis program. The program should be designed to be sustainable and should include the funding necessary for IT system enhancements, dedicated personnel for proactive enforcement, and contracting of third-party services for development assistance and staff augmentation, as needed. This program should be implemented as soon as possible - in advance of new ordinances being enacted - enabling personnel and systems to effectively enforce the new ordinances upon adoption. (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F10) These authorizations should be completed at least three months prior to the date of enactment of new ordinances.
F11
The Board of Supervisors failure to take timely, definitive enforcement action to limit the growth of non-permitted Vacation Rental operations in the County has 20 allowed the problem to continue to grow in an uncontrolled fashion, exacerbating tensions within the community.
Related Recommendations (3)
R5
As a necessary part of new Vacation Rental ordinance development, the Board of Supervisors should establish specific paths and timelines for addressing how current unpermitted Vacation Rental operations may be eligible to obtain permits under the new ordinances. (F11, F12) These regulations and processes should be complete effective with the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R6
As part of the new ordinance development, the Board of Supervisors should specify procedures for handling current Vacation Rental operations that may be illegal and ineligible for permits under the new ordinances. (F11, F12) These regulations and processes should be complete effective with the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R8
The Board of Supervisors should fully commit to accelerating efforts to achieve final approval of new Vacation Rental ordinances by end of calendar year 2021. (F11, F12) The new ordinances should be enacted no later than December 31, 2021.
F12
The failure of the Board of Supervisors to enact new ordinances in a timely manner has further magnified difficult problems that must be resolved as new ordinances are put into effect, including establishing policy and driving subsequent compliance and enforcement actions for existing unpermitted Vacation Rentals whose operations may ultimately be illegal under the new ordinances.
Related Recommendations (3)
R5
As a necessary part of new Vacation Rental ordinance development, the Board of Supervisors should establish specific paths and timelines for addressing how current unpermitted Vacation Rental operations may be eligible to obtain permits under the new ordinances. (F11, F12) These regulations and processes should be complete effective with the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R6
As part of the new ordinance development, the Board of Supervisors should specify procedures for handling current Vacation Rental operations that may be illegal and ineligible for permits under the new ordinances. (F11, F12) These regulations and processes should be complete effective with the date of enactment of new ordinances.
R8
The Board of Supervisors should fully commit to accelerating efforts to achieve final approval of new Vacation Rental ordinances by end of calendar year 2021. (F11, F12) The new ordinances should be enacted no later than December 31, 2021.