HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/12/2017 Item 16, Wilkins
From:Matthew F. Wilkins <
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Cano, Molly
Subject:December 12th Council Meeting Agenda Item #16: Fiscal Health Response Plan
Attachments:TBID_Letter_SLO_City_Council_Agenda_Item_16_121217.docx
To whom it may concern:
Please find the attached letter to Mayor Harmon and the City Council regarding Agenda Item #16 for today’s meeting
from the Tourism Business Improvement District Board.
Thank you,
Matthew F. Wilkins
General Manager
Sands Inn & Suites
1930 Monterey Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
sandssuites.com
P: 805.544.0500
F: 805.544.3529
1
DATE: December 12, 2017
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Matthew F. Wilkins, Tourism Business Improvement District
SUBJECT: December 12, 2017, Council Meeting Agenda Item #16: Fiscal Health Response Plan
Mayor Harmon and City Council Members,
The Tourism Business Improvement District Board urges Council not to support an increase to
the Transient Occupancy Tax rate. We know that an increase to TOT would have a direct, negative
impact on lodging occupancy in San Luis Obispo. Visitors to our community do not pay attention to how
the assessments are divvied, and only see an increase in total cost. Price and occupancy are intimately and
inversely linked; an increase in price would decrease occupancy for our lodging constituents. This will
drive visitors to lower cost alternatives in our market, as well as to illegal short-term rentals. In short, an
increase in TOT would likely have the opposite of the desired effect of increasing revenues to make up
for budget shortfalls.
Santa Barbara, Ventura, Paso Robles and Pismo Beach all maintain a TOT rate of 10 percent.
With additional city and county tourism marketing assessments, the effective total rate averages 13
percent for most of the communities that we compete with for tourism dollars along the Central Coast.
We feel it is imperative to keep this playing field “level,” as our industry is already being squeezed by
rapidly increasing labor costs and shrinking margins as booking patterns change with technology.
We have already begun to see a plateau in occupancy, and with the many continued threats to our
industry, from the closure of Highway 1and raging wildfires along the Central Coast to increases in the
minimum wage and sky-rocketing healthcare costs, we feel that this is not the proper time to increase
strain on hotel properties.
We thank you for your service to the community and for considering our input on this matter.
Sincerely,
Matthew F. Wilkins
TBID Board Chair
General Manager
Sands Inn & Suites
1930 Monterey Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
93401