CLIPBOARD : County Bed Taxes Lose Padding

Transient occupancy taxes have nothing to do with the homeless. Commonly called a bed tax, this levy is a 10% fee tacked on room rental fees for either a single night or for 29 consecutive nights. Any room rented for 30 days or more is exempt from the tax.

For the county, this source of revenue is no longer a sleeping giant. Rather, bed taxes have been a rollercoaster ride since the mid-’80s. In 1987, when the Dana Point Resort opened, collections doubled. But in 1989, the city of Dana Point incorporated and absorbed both the Dana Point Resort and the Ritz-Carlton, another rich source of this revenue. The result: a 78% drop in county bed tax collections. Those monies now accrue to the city of Dana Point.

Here’s how county bed tax revenues have varied:

1985: $1,334,854 1986: $1,587,921 1987: $3,023,050 1988: $3,366,170 1989: $740,548 1990: $777,591 1991: $500,000* * Projected Source: Tax Assessor’s Office of Orange County