Facts About the San Diego City Council’s Proposed $5,000 Per Bedroom Vacation Rental Tax
San Diegans are already paying more for everything. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera is proposing a $5,000 per-bedroom, per-year tax on vacation rentals. This won’t build a single new unit of housing – it just raises costs for families and threatens neighborhood jobs. Let’s fix affordability without punishing locals or shrinking our visitor economy.
What Councilmember Elo-Rivera’s Proposal Does:
- Imposes a new $5,000 per-bedroom annual tax on vacation rentals
- Claims the money will be used for the “general fund”, with no guarantee that the money will improve housing affordability or anything else for residents. Politicians can use it on nearly anything, including their own office spending.
- Adds another costly layer of expenses after many recent fee hikes, without creating housing.
Why it Hurts San Diegans:
- Enough is Enough: New trash fees, higher parking fees, proposals to charge for using beaches and Balboa Park, and other hikes are already straining. This adds thousands more per property, every year.
- Punishes Locals: Hosts are regular, local San Diegans: retirees, teachers, and military families, who rely on a rental home to help make ends meet. The majority of short-term rental hosts are full-time San Diego residents.
- Fewer Visitors, Fewer Jobs: When rentals go offline, neighborhoods and small businesses lose guest spending, and the City will collect less in existing visitor taxes.
- Doesn’t Create Housing: This tax doesn’t add a single home. It’s a costly experiment that repeats the pattern of more taxes, few results.
The Harm, By the Numbers:
- The amount of this tax is so high that it would lead many rentals to shut down entirely. The city could lose tens of millions of dollars in tourism occupancy tax hosts are already paying, which currently helps fund police, fire, libraries, and parks.
- The majority of hosts impacted are full-time San Diegans who rely on this income to make ends meet. It’s an unfair, targeted tax on thousands of hard-working San Diegans who can’t afford it.
What Should City Council Do Instead, the Better Path:
San Diegans need policies that lower the cost of living, not increase it more:
- Stop Making San Diego More Expensive: stop raising fees and taxes that hit families (parking, parks & rec, special events, property-based taxes).
- Real Supply Solutions: Streamline permits and speed up housing where it’s planned, rather than taxing local San Diegans.
- Focus on Accountability First: Measure results, audit existing funds, and prioritize effectiveness over new taxes that hurt San Diegans.
- Targeted enforcement: Enforce rules that protect neighborhoods without punishing compliant hosts who follow the rules.