Spokane Valley, WA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

SVMC § 3.20.010 imposes two special excise taxes on the same lodging charge: a 2% tax under RCW 67.28.180 and a separate 1.3% tax under RCW 67.28.181, both riding on charges already subject to state sales tax under Chapter 82.08 RCW. The tax reaches "a hotel, motel, rooming house, tourist court or trailer camp, and the granting of any similar license to use real property," language broad enough to sweep in short-term rentals booked for less than a month; the code presumes any occupancy of one month or longer is a rental or lease of real property, not a taxable license to use it, so month-to-month and longer stays fall outside the tax.

The Washington Department of Revenue collects and administers the tax alongside state sales tax under SVMC § 3.20.030, using the definitions of "selling price," "seller," "buyer" and "consumer" from RCW 82.08.010. Revenue from the 2% tax funds a dedicated "hotel/motel tax fund" for tourism promotion and tourism-related facilities under SVMC § 3.20.020(A), while the 1.3% tax funds a separate "hotel/motel tax - tourism facilities fund" reserved for capital expenditures on large sporting venues and tourism-related facilities that draw overnight guests, per SVMC § 3.20.020(B). A five-member lodging tax advisory committee, with at least two members from businesses that collect the tax and two from funded activities, reviews how the money is spent under SVMC § 3.20.040.