Your guide to L.A.’s Measure TT: hotel bed tax increase

With the 2028 Olympics on the horizon, some Los Angeles officials want visitors to the city to pay more in hotel taxes.

Measure TT, which goes before city voters on the June 2 ballot, would hike the tax rate for hotel rooms from 14% to 16% until the end of 2028, staying at 15% thereafter.

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In L.A., the transient occupancy tax — sometimes called a bed or hotel tax — is currently 14% of the price of hotel stays and short-term rentals under 30 days.

The tax increase proposed by Measure TT would generate $44 million annually through 2028 and $22 million annually after that, according to city estimates, with the money going toward basic services like 911 emergency response, street and sidewalk repairs, fire protection and parks.

Under Measure TT, rooms and short-term rentals booked through online companies like Airbnb, Expedia and Hotels.com also would be subject to the tax. A related measure on the ballot would require those companies to pay taxes on the total amount a hotel charges a guest, not just the discounted rate.

The City Council voted 13-2 to put Measure TT on the ballot.

“The Olympics are an opportunity to add some jet fuel to our visitor-serving community,” Councilmember Tim McOsker said at a Feb. 10 meeting.

“Two [percent] is a pretty significant jump, but it’s a jump that’s justified by the Olympics,” he said.

The city recently closed a $1-billion budget shortfall and is facing more fiscal problems as it struggles to provide basic services while taking on big-ticket items like a $2.6-billion expansion of the Convention Center.

Opponents include hotel and hospitality groups who argue that higher taxes would make it harder to fill rooms.

Nella McOsker — who is Tim McOsker’s daughter — opposes the measure on behalf of the Central City Assn., a downtown L.A. advocacy organization of which she is president and chief executive.

“At a time when you’re seeing these declines in demand and losing on tax revenue year over year to the magnitude of $20 million, it just seems like a wrong time to impose more burdens on that shrinking base,” she told The Times.

L.A. could lose tourists to nearby cities like Culver City and Burbank, which had lower hotel tax rates than those proposed by Measure TT, according to an April 2025 report by the L.A. Office of Finance.

Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and John Lee voted against putting Measure TT on the ballot.

“You can’t ask people to pay more when you haven’t even done the work” to rein in excessive spending, Rodriguez said at the Feb. 10 meeting.

By the time the Olympics roll around, hotel and airport workers in L.A. will be making a $30 minimum wage, which was pushed by labor unions and approved by the City Council.

A coalition of hotels and airline companies opposed the wage increase, arguing that it was unsustainable and would jeopardize jobs.