Tourism Marketing District

The Tax Collector Division of the ACTTC is responsible for collecting the Tourism Marketing District (TMD) Assessment in the same manner and at the same time as Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is collected. The TMD assessment is 1.5% of taxable rents collected by lodging operators in the unincorporated areas of the County. Lodging operators include hotels, motels, vacation rental properties, private home vacation rentals, inns, bed & breakfasts, etc. 

Tourism Marketing District Facts

  • On June 10, 2015, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution forming the San Luis Obispo County Tourism Marketing District (TMD). The district is designed to provide funding for County-wide marketing, advertising, promotions and sales efforts on behalf of the assessed businesses.

 

  • The establishment of the TMD requires that all operators who collect Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) within the County also begin remitting an additional 1% of taxable rents beginning with rents collected on July 1, 2015 (see exceptions, below).

 

  • You may choose to pass the assessment on to your guests. If you do so, it must be disclosed in advance as the "Tourism Marketing District" (or "TMD Assessment").

 

  • All stays or charges exempt from TOT collections under the County TOT ordinance are also exempt from collection of the 1% TMD assessment.

 

  • The monthly TOT Return form is being updated to include Tax and Assessment calculation information for your establishment, including information about TMD exemptions. The updated TOT Return forms are expected to be mailed on or about July 15, 2015.

 

  • Stays pursuant to contracts executed prior to July 1, 2015 are exempt from the 1% TMD Assessment. A stay would be exempt under any of the following circumstances:
    • An agreement executed prior to July 1, 2015 between the lodging establishment and the guest, as evidenced by a signed contract. The contract must provide for a specified number of rooms to be occupied for a certain number of nights, or;
    • A reservation for a certain number of nights with a deposit received before July 1, 2015, or;
    • A contract between the lodging establishment and an Online Travel Agency (OTA) has been executed, and the customer stay has been booked and paid for (or a deposit with the OTA has been made) through the OTA prior to July 1, 2015, or;
    • A written Free Independent Traveler (FIT) contract, signed prior to July 1, 2015.
  • However, if the 1% TMD assessment is collected in any of the above circumstances, that assessment must be remitted to the County.

 

  • The following stays are not considered to be pursuant to a prior contract and are not exempt from the 1% TMD Assessment:
    • Reservations without a deposit.
    • Stays booked through an OTA that was booked, but deposit or payment in full was not made prior to July 1, 2015.