Taxpayers OPPOSES City of Solana Beach Transient Occupancy (TOT) Tax Increase

The Association does not inherently oppose the idea of a modest, visitor-paid hotel tax: a transient occupancy tax is well-aligned with Solana Beach's coastal, visitor-serving economy and imposes almost no burden on resident taxpayers, and the City's own fiscal management is strong. Opposition rests instead on the measure's failure to include the taxpayer-accountability safeguards the Association's tax evaluation criteria require of any tax it endorses, together with the City's decision not to engage the endorsement process. The measure includes no sunset clause, no independent citizens' oversight, no maintenance-of-effort commitment, and no outcome-based performance metrics. The City's fiscal strength, documented in the findings below, is not in question, but it is not a substitute for the accountability provisions the measure omits.