Ventura, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Fee authority
- City Council sets fees, § 6.455.150
- Fee uses
- application, renewal, plan amendment, inspection, enforcement
- TOT tie to renewal
- unpaid minimum TOT blocks renewal (§ 6.455.050(C))
- Revocation trigger
- 2+ missed TOT remittances in 36 months
- Unpermitted operators
- must pay back TOT plus fines first
Summary
Ventura charges short-term rental owners the chapter's own permit fees plus the city's transient occupancy tax, and ties both to the permit itself. Municipal Code § 6.455.150 lets the city council set fees for applications, renewals, amendments, inspections and enforcement, while §§ 6.455.040(B)(5) and 6.455.050(C) make paying transient occupancy tax a condition of getting or keeping the permit.
5. The owner is current on all taxes, fees, and any fines owed to the city. The permit administrator shall not issue a permit to any owner who has operated an unpermitted short-term vacation rental until the owner pays any fines imposed for operating without a permit in addition to the transient occupancy tax the owner would have paid the city if the owner had been operating legally. ... C. ... Permits for short-term vacation rentals that have not remitted the minimum transient occupancy tax amount established by resolution of the city council in the 12 months preceding the renewal date shall expire and are not eligible for renewal. ... The permit administrator shall assess fees as established by the city council to reflect the reasonable costs of administering this chapter, including but not limited to fees for the initial permit application, permit renewal, amendment of a nuisance response plan, inspections, and enforcement.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-008, passed May 12, 2026).
Full Breakdown
455 folds the city's transient occupancy tax obligations directly into the short-term rental permit system rather than treating them as a separate track. 040(B)(5) requires the owner be current on all taxes, fees and fines; an owner who operated without a permit must first pay both the fines for that unpermitted operation and the transient occupancy tax that would have been due had the rental been legal. 050(C) makes a permit expire and ineligible for renewal if the minimum amount was not remitted in the 12 months before the renewal date.
190(A)(6). 150 lets the permit administrator assess fees set by the city council for the initial application, renewal, amending a nuisance response plan, inspections and enforcement, covering the chapter's administrative cost rather than the tax itself.
Violations & Fines
Falling behind on the minimum transient occupancy tax bars renewal outright under § 6.455.050(C), and two or more missed remittances within 36 months is a separate revocation ground under § 6.455.190(A)(6). Operating without a permit first requires paying back the tax that would have been owed plus fines before any permit can issue, per § 6.455.040(B)(5).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Ventura short-term rental owners pay a separate permit fee?
Can unpaid transient occupancy tax cost me my Ventura rental permit?
What happens if I rented short-term without a permit first?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ventura
How Ventura compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·California rules heatmap·Compare Ventura to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview
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Taxes & Fees in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Ventura County handle taxes & fees.