El Dorado County Grand Jury • 2002-2003 • Agency Response

City of South Lake Tahoe Transient Occupancy Tax (tot), Citizen Complaint #c7-02/03 [27 pages](PDF, 2mb)

27 pages

View Original PDF

⚠️ 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 24 findings

F1 Page 1

The City of South Lake Tahoe is inconsistent in their collection of TOTs due to the definition

F2 Page 1

At present, the City is not following their own clarification along with the South Lake Tahoe

F3 Page 1

City records show there are 1,191 vacation rental homes in SLT.

F4 Page 1

Rental agencies handle bookings for 843 of the registered vacation rental homes.

F5 Page 1

Individual homeowners account for the remaining 348 registered vacation rental homes.

F6 Page 1

Some individual homeowners are renting their property as a vacation home without

F7 Page 1

Some individual homeowners are renting their property without collecting TOT.

F8 Page 1

TOT collected from all rental sources amounted to almost $9 million dollars in the fiscal

F9 Page 1

The annual City budget is dependent on TOT revenues.

F10 Page 1

For the last two years, the City of SLT has had a budget shortfall in excess of $ 2 million

F11 Page 1

Reserve funds are being used to balance the City’s budget.

F12 Page 1

About $ 4 million dollars is left in the City’s reserve funds.

F13 Page 1

The City of SLT has not filled the Finance Director’s position for the last 12 months. The

F14 Page 1

The City Council is not adequately informed regarding the delinquent TOTs.

F15 Page 1

Of the five rental agencies audited for this investigation, the Investigator estimated that

F16 Page 1

It was further estimated that over $224,000 was underpaid by all rental agencies in 2002.

F17 Page 1

Individual homeowners, as distinct from agencies, may have underpaid an additional TOT of

F18 Page 1

This year the City hired an individual to audit the motels and hotels regarding payment of

F19 Page 1

In one period, from August 2002 to March 2003, this person found uncollected tax

F20 Page 1

Motels, hotels, vacation homes, and rental agencies are responsible to pay their TOTs owed

F21 Page 1

Although the City has stringent methods of dealing with delinquent TOTs, the prevailing

F22 Page 1

There are no written guidelines as to the definition of “rent” as expressed in Chapter 28A-3

F23 Page 1

Some agencies and motels pay TOT on all revenue generated by the rental of the room, and

F24 Page 1

On several occasions, this committee requested the El Dorado County Auditor-Controller for

Recommendations 8

R1
Page 1

The City should immediately define the specific charges that are subject to the collection of
R2
Page 1

The City should add criminal sanctions to the City Code provision dealing with the non-
R3
Page 1

The City Council should receive monthly reports from the City Manager regarding the
R4
Page 1

The City Council should become more involved with the City Manager and City Attorney in
R5
Page 1

The City should implement a comprehensive and on-going audit program of vacation rental
R6
Page 1

The City should require vacation rental agencies to submit with their monthly TOT
R7
Page 1

A more in-depth scrutiny by the City staff should be made of high “guest” usage homes to
R8
Page 1

The City’s TOT remittance form should be changed to allow sufficient space to permit the