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

Chapter 3.20 of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code is the city's uniform transient occupancy tax ordinance. Section 3.20.030 sets the rate at eleven percent of the rent charged by the operator, and the tax is a debt the transient owes the city until it is paid to the operator or to the city. It is due when the rent is paid, a proportionate share is paid with each installment, and any unpaid balance is due when the transient stops occupying space. If the operator does not receive the tax, the tax administrator can require the transient to pay it directly.

The definitions in § 3.20.020 are wide. A hotel is any structure or portion of a structure occupied or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, a list that runs from inns and motels to lodging houses, apartment houses, dormitories, clubs and mobilehomes or house trailers at a fixed location. It also reaches any space or site in a trailer court, camp or park where a recreational vehicle or motorhome is occupied by transients. Rent means the consideration charged, whether or not received, in money, goods, labor or otherwise, with no deduction. The tax administrator is the finance director or another city officer designated by resolution of the city council.

Operators have set duties. Under § 3.20.050 the tax is stated separately from the rent, each transient gets a receipt, and no operator can advertise that the tax will be absorbed or refunded. Under § 3.20.060 each operator registers the hotel within thirty days after commencing business and posts the transient occupancy registration certificate in a conspicuous place. Under § 3.20.070 a return is due for each calendar month, even when no rent was charged, and the full tax collected is remitted when the return is filed. The exemptions in § 3.20.040 cover federal officers or employees on official business, foreign government officers exempt under federal law or treaty, and occupancies beyond the city's power to tax, each claimed at the time rent is collected on a form under penalty of perjury.

Short-term rentals are covered as well. Both zoning codes printed under Title 17, § 17.113.080 (1983 Zoning Ordinance) and § 17.09.080 (1998 Zoning Code), require the owner of a short-term rental or homestay to obtain a TOT/LBID/TMD certificate and to collect and remit those payments monthly in compliance with Chapter 3.20 and Chapter 3.26.