After tomorrow's playoff games we will know who will play in Super Bowl 50 here in the Bay Area. Two weeks later the Big Game will bring big money to a variety of businesses. One can only hope B'game's hotels will be full and the Transient Occupancy Tax ("TOT") will flow into the city's coffers. The NFL alone has reserved 18,000 hotel rooms. About one-third are on the Peninsula and we are prime turf for getting easily to both EssEff and Santa Clara.
The major missed opportunity is to also collect TOT from AirBnB and VRBO renters. It's too late to rake in what will be one of the largest potential takes B'game is likely to see in the next decade or more, but that is no reason not to rectify the oversight afterwards. If you scroll down to page 36 of the 2015-'16 CAFR* located here, you will see that TOT is about 38% of total city revenue. Right now it is $23.7 Million, but it could be even bigger.
Searching the AirBnB site for rentals on Super Bowl weekend indicates only 15% of the available listings are left to be rented in B'game and the average price is $466 per night. That, dear bloggers, is a lot of missed TOT! Let's hope this City Council learns from the mistakes of the last one. This was totally foreseeable.
* CAFR is the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article titled "Homes Add Room for Housemates" that reports on the home-building industry's largest annual trade show. The latest in home designs is to include integrated second units for "aging parents or college grads with shaky employment prospects" -- or perfect for short-term rentals, I would add. This trend isn't going away.
Posted by: Joe | January 23, 2016 at 02:27 PM
Joe, let's be honest, the word 'prescient' would be least likely to be used in describing the City Council for the past few years, to put it gently. If a TOT has questionable legality, then would be very easy to pass an ordinance for everyone air BnBing their houses or rooms should pay an annual fee to the City of Burlingame, like a parking permit.
By the way, it's not just housing that's up for rent, but in this day and age, the air BnB concept has now transferred over to vehicles! Yes, there is now peer-to-peer car sharing and Burlingame's prime location sitting right next to SFO is another potential gold-mine.
https://turo.com/how-turo-works
https://www.getaround.com/tour
With some younger new members of City Council, maybe we can start recognizing 21st century trends a little sooner, let alone recognizing them at all.
As an aside, this car rental gig could be a nice little side business for Bruce Dickinson generating $15,000 per month just renting out 2-3 of my coveted car collection. Take a guess how much a high end Ferrari or Porsche can take in a weekend for wealthy tourists coming to a world-class city!
Posted by: Bruce Dickinson | January 23, 2016 at 03:59 PM
Great info, Joe. Thanks!i never knew that the city collects so much TOT.
Posted by: Samiselfie | January 23, 2016 at 07:00 PM
Sami, without the TOT and the car dealers we would be in pretty sad shape. Thanks.
BD, I'm interested in a weekend Ferrari rental. You know where to find me if interested.
I'm not in favor of an annual rental fee. I think a usage (i.e. revenue-based) fee is better.
By the way, some off-line commentary sent to me reminded me to remind everyone that VRBO and AirBnB rentals bring a real cost to the city in increased police needs, parking enforcement and traffic. So there is plenty of logic aside from the fiscal needs.
Posted by: Joe | January 23, 2016 at 07:54 PM
Dear BD
I am, and have stopped watching SNL.
By far the worst guests, and scenario's ever.
SNL has "JUMPED THE SHARK TONIGHT."
Posted by: [email protected] | January 23, 2016 at 11:01 PM
This should be a slam dunk to do. Doesn't the city already do something very close to this?
Posted by: resident | January 25, 2016 at 11:44 AM
BD, are you "Mike and Jo"? Your wife told me at The Candy Store, "Go easy on him, he's 70." It was a give-away. Why tout your Ferraris on-line, seems counter to your real character...
Posted by: Mike and Jo | January 26, 2016 at 06:27 PM
Is anyone else fed up with their neighbors abusing the parking and noise with Airbnb? Can we do something like this?
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/SF-deals-major-blow-to-Airbnb-with-tough-10617319.php
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed one of the most stringent restrictions on short-term rentals in the country Tuesday, barring hosts from having paying guests in a room, house or entire apartment for more than 60 days a year.
The legislation passed 6-2, with Supervisors Scott Wiener and Norman Yee absent. Supervisor Mark Farrell recused himself from the vote because he has business interests in a company involved in the short-term rental industry.
The question now is whether Mayor Ed Lee will veto the legislation. A spokeswoman for Lee, who has opposed tougher restrictions on short-term rentals in the past, said the mayor “will review the legislation when it arrives on his desk.”
The legislation lacks the eight votes needed to override a potential veto. The bill passed near the end of a marathon, seven-hour board hearing without comment from the supervisors.
The measure’s passage is a blow to Airbnb, the nation’s largest vacation-rental company, which originated in San Francisco and is still based here. Under current city law, hosts can rent a room in their house or apartment for an unlimited number of days, or entire homes for up to 90 days a year. All those would be capped at 60 days under the legislation the supervisors approved Tuesday.
Posted by: Fed up | November 27, 2016 at 07:47 PM
It does seem like now is the time for some rules. And some payment. If we let TOT wither on the vine, we will be in trouble financially. Is anyone on the council working on this?
Posted by: resident | November 28, 2016 at 09:05 PM