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

Petaluma Municipal Code Chapter 4.24, the "Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Law," taxes occupancy in any "hotel" (defined broadly at § 4.24.020 to include hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes, mobile homes and house trailers at a fixed location, apartment houses, dormitories, and similar structures) and campgrounds, for occupancy of 30 consecutive calendar days or less. Under § 4.24.030, each transient pays a tax of 10% of the rent charged, a rate that has stood as of November 5, 1990; the tax is a debt owed by the transient to the city, extinguished only by payment to the operator at the time rent is paid.

Operators must register with the tax administrator within 30 days of the effective date of the chapter or of commencing business, whichever is later, and post a "transient occupancy registration certificate" on the premises (§ 4.24.060). Each operator files a report within 15 days of the end of the previous month showing total rents charged and tax collected, and must remit the full amount collected at that time (§ 4.24.070); all tax collected is held in trust for the city until remitted. Failure to remit on time triggers a 10% original delinquency penalty (§ 4.24.080), an additional 10% penalty if the remittance is still delinquent 30 days later (§ 4.24.090), a further 25% penalty if nonpayment is found fraudulent (§ 4.24.100), and interest of one-half of one percent per month on the unpaid tax (§ 4.24.110); all penalties and interest merge into the tax owed (§ 4.24.120).

If an operator fails or refuses to collect or remit, the tax administrator may estimate and assess the amount due after notice, and an aggrieved operator has 15 days to appeal that determination to the city council by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk (§§ 4.24.130, 4.24.140). Records substantiating the tax must be preserved for three years and are subject to inspection by the tax administrator (§ 4.24.150).