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Shall the City of Watsonville adopt an ordinance amending Section 3‑6.303 of the Municipal Code by imposing a special one percent (1%) tax charged to guests of hotels and motels under the
City's Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance for the purpose of
protecting the local economy by continuing tourism promotion? |
The Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council shall make all of its books, records, and accounts which in any manner relate to the expenditure of Conference and Visitors Promotion Fund monies available to the City's Administrative Services Director for examination or audit upon reasonable notice. In addition, the City shall require annual reports from the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council designed to demonstrate the achievement of goals relative to the promotion of tourism in the City and County. The City's obligation to annually contract with the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council shall be contingent upon that agency's satisfactory performance, which shall be demonstrated by annual financial audits and periodic, independent assessments of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council's performance in achieving approved goals and objectives. Such independent assessments shall be conducted at least every three (3) years, shall be paid for by the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council, and shall be conducted by qualified professionals approved by the City. Said obligation shall additionally be contingent upon compliance with all applicable laws pertaining to the operation and governance of non‑profit corporations. SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Section which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Section are severable. SECTION
3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall be in
force and take effect ten (10) days after the official canvass of the
November 5, 2002, Special Municipal Election pursuant to California Election
Code Section 4013. |
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FULL TEXT OF BALLOT MEASURE
T AN ORDINANCE BY THE VOTERS
OF THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE AMENDING SECTION 3‑6.303 OF CHAPTER 6
(TAXATION) OF TITLE 3 (FINANCE) OF THE WATSONVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING
TO THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX SECTION
1. ENACTMENT. Amending
Section 3‑6.303 (Tax Imposed) of Chapter 6 (Taxation) of Title 3
(Finance) of the Watsonville Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as
follows: 3-6.303
Tax Imposed. (a)
For the privilege of occupancy in
any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a general tax in an
amount of ten percent (10%) of the rent charged by the operator. The tax constitutes a debt owed by the
transient to the City which is extinguished only by payment by the operator
to the City. The transient shall pay
the tax to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a
proportionate share of the tax shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid tax shall be due upon the
transient's ceasing to occupy space in the hotel. If for any reason the tax is not paid to the operator of the
hotel, the Tax Administrator may require that such tax shall be paid directly
to the Tax Administrator. The general
tax revenues shall be placed in the City's general fund. (b)
For
the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall
pay a special tax of one percent (1%) of the rent charged by the operator on
the same terms and conditions set forth in subsection (a). The special tax revenues shall be placed
in a segregated "Conference and Visitors Promotion Fund" account. (c) All
tax revenue deposited in the Conference and Visitors Promotion Fund shall be
used exclusively for the promotion of tourism in the County of Santa Cruz and
for no other purpose. In order to
achieve this objective, the City shall annually contract with the Santa Cruz
County Conference and Visitors Council, a non‑profit corporation doing
business in the City and County of Santa Cruz established for the purpose of
promoting tourism within the City and County. The City shall require the Santa Cruz County Conference and
Visitors Council to submit an annual accounting for the use of funds provided
pursuant to this section. The annual
accounting, at a minimum, shall set forth with particularity and in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles the amount and
nature of all expenditures made with Conference and Visitors Promotion Fund
monies. |
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44-518
VOTER
INFORMATION PAMPHLET
MEASURES, ANALYSES AND
ARGUMENTS (whichever is applicable to
your ballot) Arguments in support of, or in opposition to, the proposed laws are the opinions of the authors. |
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Impartial Analysis by city attorney
Measure T Watsonville enacted a Transient Occupancy
Tax in 1964. That tax is found in
Section 3-6.303 of the Watsonville Municipal Code and it provides that a
general tax equal to ten percent (10%) of rent shall be charged on room rent
of thirty days or less. For example,
if a hotel room costs $75.00 per night, the transient occupancy tax is
$7.50. This measure would change existing law by imposing a special tax of
an additional one percent (1%) which would be segregated in a “Conference and
Visitors Promotion Fund” and could be used to promote tourism only in Santa
Cruz County. For example, if a hotel
room cost $75.00, an additional $.75 would be charged for a total of $8.25. Under this measure, the
City would also be required to contract annually with the Santa Cruz County
Conference and Visitors Council, a non-profit corporation established in 1988
to promote tourism in Santa Cruz County.
The contract obligation would depend on the Visitors Council
satisfactory performance of approved goals and independent assessments which
would occur every three years. Under this measure, the
Visitors Council would be required to prepare and submit an annual accounting
of all expenditures made with Conference and Visitors Promotion Fund monies,
and also make its books and records available for review by the City’s
Administrative Services Director for examination or audit upon reasonable
notice. The Visitors Council would
also be required to provide annual reports demonstrating achievement of goals
related to tourism in the City of Watsonville and Santa Cruz County. In order to be adopted, the
Measure must be approved by 2/3 of the voters voting on it. s/ Alan Smith City Attorney |
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE T Measure T requires tourists
to pay for the services they receive while visiting our community and ensures
that your tax dollars are not used to fund the Santa Cruz County Conference
and Visitors Council. When this measure is passed
in Watsonville and throughout the rest of Santa Cruz County, $4 million will
be made available for vital local services over the next 10 years. Measure T
will also create accountability and safeguards on how your tax dollars are
spent. Specifically Measure T
will: ·
Help streamline the City’s
budget. When passed, Measure T will make available
money now spent on tourism promotion, for important public services.
Additional dollars will also be generated for local programs, such as senior
care or fire department paramedic response, through sales taxes paid by
tourists. ·
Create
accountability. Measure T ensures accountability and safeguards on how tax
money will be spent. Measure T requires
an independent audit, conducted annually, to ensure that tax dollars are
used as specified in the measure. ·
Be paid for by tourists. Measure T requires hotel and motel guests to pay an additional
1% on their room rates. Watsonville
residents living in their homes will not have their taxes affected in any way
by this measure. ·
Protect local businesses
and create jobs. Watsonville is feeling the
effects of California’s slumping economy.
Measure T will help small businesses prosper, making more jobs
available for local residents On November 5th,
please join local businesses, senior citizens, working families and elected
officials in supporting Measure T. It
will free up money for essential city services every year while creating
responsibility and accountability on how tax dollars are spent. s/ Luis De La Cruz, Santa Cruz County Latino
Chamber of Commerce s/ Renee Mello, Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce s/ Aldina F. Maciel, Century 21 Classic Properties s/ Sam Farr, Member of Congress, 17th
District s/ Fred Keeley, Speaker pro
Tem of the California State Assembly ______________________________________ No argument against Measure T was filed. |
44-519