Tax Results for the City of Santa Barbara

Transient Occupancy Tax Results for the City of Santa Barbara – Month Ended December 31, 2021

The City of Santa Barbara collected $1.87 million in transient occupancy taxes (TOT) for December 2021. TOT revenues in December 2021 were about $1.4 million above December collections last year—which was significantly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions and travel advisories.  Compared to December 2019, revenues were higher by 41%; however, this is largely due to increased average daily rates, which are 26% higher than December 2019.

The local travel industry has seen a steady improvement in demand for rooms throughout the fall as the State has lifted travel advisories and as access to vaccinations has become more widely available. As of December, the industry has not yet seen declines due to the new Omicron variant of the virus, which may have a greater negative impact to the January revenues.  The City has collected $16.7 million through December, the sixth month in the City’s fiscal year. The City’s adopted TOT budget for all funds is $23.4 million, of which $19.5 million is budgeted in the General Fund. 

The Transient Occupancy Tax table can be viewed here. The City’s TOT tax rate is 12%.  10% goes to the City’s General Fund and the remaining 2% goes to the Creeks/Clean Water Fund.