The Inglewood City Council voted 5-0 to extend a moratorium banning expansion of short-term rentals and the immediate collection of Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) related to short-term stays going back to Jan. 1, 2022.
Staff from the Housing Protection Department suggested they needed up to 10 months and 15 days to come up with a way to address “best business practices” in regulating the 500 listings already on the Airbnb platform.
Today’s action also included the immediate forwarding of transient occupancy taxes (TOT) to the City but it was unclear if hosts will have to pay required business taxes, on gross receipts, before remitting the TOT.
Councilman Eloy Morales had questions about the tax collection process.
“What happens if we send the bill and they return it unpaid,” asked Morales. “Can we put it on the tax roll?”
The mayor said they hadn’t “gotten that far” but they could do what they do for residents who have water accounts through Golden State. The City still bills these customers for trash services, through the water department, and when the bill isn’t paid, the City can present the bills to LA County for inclusion on their property taxes.
One resident regularly attends the council meeting to discuss his issues with the Housing Protection Department. He has attended no less than a half dozen times in the last six months. He was upset the moratorium was extended.
“I have waited to make money from my units and now I can’t because of a shooting in a party house, why not just ban party houses,” asked the gentleman. The ordinance does specifically address party houses.
The City made no mention of the previous ordinances they were due to vote on Oct. 27, 2020, nor any discussion of why it takes the city close to three years to address an issue they’ve known about since 2017.
Mayor Butts, and Councilman George Dotson and Alex Padilla are up for re-election in November. Is that the urgency in the redistricting process?
