Huntington Park, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

The tax comes from Chapter 8 of Title 3 of the Huntington Park Municipal Code, the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Law. Section 3-8.03 imposes a tax of 5% of the rent charged by the operator on each transient for the privilege of occupancy in any hotel. The tax is a debt the transient owes to the City, extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the City. It is paid when the rent is paid, a proportionate share goes with each installment, and any unpaid balance is due when the transient stops occupying space. If the operator never receives it, the Tax Administrator can require direct payment.

Who is covered is set by § 3-8.02. A hotel is any structure or portion of a structure occupied, or intended or designed for occupancy, by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping, and the list includes a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, lodging house, rooming house, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, and a mobile home or house trailer at a fixed location. The chapter never uses the words short-term rental. A transient is a person entitled to occupancy for 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of days as full days. Rent means the consideration charged, whether or not received, with no deduction, and § 3-8.07 bars reducing it by credit card service charges or travel agency commissions.

Operators carry the paperwork. Section 3-8.06 requires registration with the Tax Administrator within 30 days after commencing business and a posted Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate. Section 3-8.05 requires the tax to be stated separately from the rent, with a receipt to each transient, and bars advertising that the operator will absorb the tax. Returns and remittances are due by the last working day of the month after each calendar month. Section 3-8.04 exempts federal or state officers on official business and certain foreign government officers, but only on a claim under penalty of perjury when the rent is collected. Records must be kept for three years under § 3-8.12.