Cathedral City, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Cathedral City Municipal Code § 5.96.050(J) ties every short-term vacation rental (STVR) owner in Cathedral City to the city's transient occupancy tax chapter. The owner or the owner's authorized agent must comply with all of Chapter 3.24, including a monthly or alternative return. The return is due every month, including months when the unit was not rented. The owner keeps records for three years in whatever form the tax administrator requires, and those records stay at the owner's premises or reach the tax administrator within fourteen days after a request. When the unit is advertised on an online platform that issues a monthly statement, the owner attaches that statement to the monthly tax report.

The tax itself comes from Chapter 3.24. Section 5.96.020 defines transient occupancy tax as the tax levied under Chapter 3.24 on the sale of sleeping accommodations, and says those accommodations include short-term vacation rentals. Section 3.24.030 sets the rate at twelve percent of the rent charged. The Cathedral City tax administrator is the city manager or a designated agent.

Fees sit in a separate section. Under § 5.96.040, the permit application must be accompanied by an application fee, an inspection fee and a registration fee, each in an amount the City Council sets by resolution. The application must also carry the information needed for transient occupancy tax registration. Every STVR contract must be filed with the city before occupancy or within twenty-four hours of signing, and the city uses those filings to collect the tax and check code compliance. Section 5.96.040 also bars renewal while city fines, fees or liens on the property remain unpaid.

Chapter 5.96 states its own policy goal: it phases out STVRs in Cathedral City within two years of October 9, 2020, except in common interest developments whose CC&Rs do not prohibit them and for home sharing, which the code allows.