Delinquent TOT in South Lake Tahoe adds up to $569,476
By Kathryn Reed
South Lake Tahoe hotels owe the city more than a half million dollars in taxes and penalties. The properties are deliberately not paying the city the transient occupancy tax they collect.
City Attorney Patrick Enright was back in court this week fighting to get the $43,000 Inn at Heavenly owes.
Blue Lake Inn just paid its back taxes with penalty to South Lake Tahoe.
The TOT collected by lodging establishments must be handed over to the city within 15 business days after the last of the month.
“Delinquent TOT is an unlawful use of the city’s revenues,” Finance Director Christine Vuletich said.
In May, South Tahoe received $129,000 in back TOT, penalties and interest on the Blue Lake Inn, and $75,000 from the Fantasy Inn.
“Both of these, and all of the delinquent TOT, paid significant penalties and interest so it would be beneficial to hotel operators if they paid in a timely manner. For instance, in the Blue Lake Inn case, the actual back TOT and [Tahoe Tourism Improvement District] was about $75,000, with the remainder in penalties and interest,” Enright said.
Blue Lake Inn was in foreclosure. Wells Fargo paid the city after the bank sold the property.
With Wells Fargo having the loan on the Fantasy Inn, the bank interceded to pay the TOT when the city threatened to close the property.
The Paradise Motel was supposed to send a check on May 25 for $6,060.96. This breaks down to $4,092.26 in TOT, $723 delinquent TTID, and $1,245.70 in penalties and interest.
Properties involving two members of the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association — Jerry Bindel and Danny Freemon — have been affiliated with properties that are part of the problem. Premier Resorts used to own Lakeland Village. They owe the city $164,344.17, which include penalties and fees. A lien is on the property. Bindel is not allowed to speak for this company because they no longer own the property he manages.
Freemon is part of the Lake Tahoe Group that has several hotels on Emerald Bay Road, including the Pine Cone Acre Motel that owes more than $23,000. Freemon did not return a phone call.
“Poor business practices and dishonesty are the primary reasons that hotels and motels become delinquent in paying the city the TOT they have collected, and this behavior has increased with the economic recession,” Vuletich said.
TOT is one of the city’s main revenue sources for the general fund. Some of the things the general fund budge pays for are police, fire, snow removal, streets, and parks and recreation.
“The money is city money that they collect for us as condition of doing business,” City Manager Dave Jinkens said. “… they need to know that city government will pursue them in civil and criminal courts if the facts warrant both civil and criminal prosecution.”
Click on TOT to see the delinquency report as of April 30. With penalties included, the city is owed $569,476.06.
What about all those illegal hotels in our neighborhoods called vacation rentals? How much do they owe?
Vacation rentals aren’t illegal and are sanctioned by the city. The rentals which are handled by a rental company are required to collect TOT and the rental company pays the taxes. If a property owner manages their vacation rental property themselves, they are not required to collect the tax and pay it.
Check your neighborhood rentals and if they are managed by a company, there should be a sign posted outside regarding occupancy and parking.
I don’t think that’s right, Advocate. My neighbors rent out their own house through VRBO and they have the signs inside about collecting the tax and obeying the laws. I think everyone is supposed to pay that tax, whether through an agency or not.
Dogwoman, You’re correct.
City code 28A-69 says-No owner of a vacation home rental shall rent that unit for 30 consecutive calendar days or less without a valid vacation home rental permit for that unit……
They don’t have to have a business license like an agent does but they have to abide by all the rules including collecting TOT. Also 28A-15 says:Each operator shall collect the tax imposed by this article to the same extent and at the same time as the rent is collected from every transient.
STEVEN: You might report them to the city if you know they aren’t collecting the tax and paying it to the city.
Just how do you tell a vacation rental from a plain old rental property?
Generally, different cars each week, mostly with California plates. Frequently empty mid-week and occupied weekends, but, again, always different cars. Either it’s a rental, or a drug house!
tahoeadvocate- In my mind these vacation rentals are illegal. They are hotels set up in our SINGLE FAMILY ZONED NEIGHBORHOODS! They have destroyed any sense of a neighborhood with noise, lights, traffic, and way too many people. Please tell me how a 4 bedroom house, housing 12(the allowed max-often ignored} noisey, partying adults and kids, fits in a single family neighborhood, where the homes were once occupied by full time residents making Tahoe their home! Full time residents who care about their neighborhood, become friends with their neighbors, and add to the community. These vacation renters are only here to do as they please without any regard to the neighborhoods where they stay. The city and county, without a vote from the citizens passed ordinances to allow the vacation rentals in hopes of collecting more TOT. But what happened to all the motels on hwy 50? They went broke, turned into apartments or condos and stopped collecting TOT. And then up sprang these 5000+ sqft nightmare houses, built specificly as vacation rentals, further destroying our neighborhoods. And now many of these monster homes have become vacant foreclosures!? And now not collecting TOT! Of course these foreclosures have brought back all the peace and quiet taken away by the vacation rentals. Enjoy the quiet while it’s here, they will be coming back. Now would be a great time to void those vacation rental ordinances and give us back our neighborhoods permanently!… As far as collecting TOT from the vacation rentals, there is no over sight. The managers, whether a company or the owner are supposed to be honest and pay up. But we all know what happens when money is involved and there is no oversight.
Just when is it OK to regulate private property ?
DAVID- It must be ok to regulate private party when ever the government feels like it. But shouldn’t there be some regulation so an auto repair shop doesn’t open next door to your house? And in my case, at this moment, yelling kids and adults playing in the indoor swimming pool, which is a huge echo chamber. What should be a mellow weekend to enjoy my neighborhood and HOME, is now drowned out by these totally inconsiderate vacation SOB’s!! Thanks so much city and county government! These vacationing idots should be down in the motels on hwy 50, not in our neighborhoods!
STEVEN
Zoning laws will keep the auto shop out of your neighborhood, I am not advocating any position i am just trying to point out any restriction will effect you as much as your neighbor from hell, when you buy a piece of property have some thought that you have some control over its use. The question is how much.
I can see both sides of this. If I lived in a neighborhood with lots of vacation rentals, I wouldn’t like it when they got rowdy, but by the same token, if I owned a house, and the only way I could keep it was to rent it out to help pay for the costs, well I can understand that too.
I think the ability to rent a property out is a major factor for many people when deciding to purchase a second home, either from the get go, or as a back up plan down the road.
If we did not allow any nightly rentals on private property, what would happen to our real estate market, and therefore our property values? I’m sure it would be affected in some way, but it’s arguable how much of a hit we would take.
It would be nice if there was a limit to how many rentals could be in a neighborhood, but not sure how fair that would be. Say no more than 10-20%, and you would have to wait till someone gave up there permit, before you could get one, or we could have neighborhoods that have decided to go 100% rental.
Just some random thoughts :)
Hey ,this big weekend they will have the cash to cover the cost! Right?
Did some partying last night ,took the Taxi home from the y to the State-line area,I was surprise there was quite few cars parked in front the motels ,hotels .
On top that ,The Casinos had people playing,sitting at most the bars.
Good to have company.Got a lot rentals in our neighborhood with renters.
If the weather just get to blazing 90 to 100 plus in the valleys they will be here for some reason,just hope they bring lots money to blow.
The Pot Shops where doing a busy steady business, unusual to have to wait stand in line.More than a few cowboys getting ready for the Big Show.
Whoopee..it’s going to be a Line dance a coming.
careaboutthecommunity
you have raised several good points that also show what is wrong with vacation rentals. First, values, which especially now is of vital concern with any owners, is what fueled the vacation home building bonanza. Your favorite realtor and all others that work here in Tahoe real estate, saw vacation rentals as a gold mine. A person couldn’t afford a $400,000 home back before the real estate boom, was told, Hey, vacation rent the home a couple weeks a month and pay for or really lower your out of pocket mortgage payment. And hey, you could now afford a $450,000 home, just by renting it out. And it ballooned from there to where these 4000-5000-6000+ homes were built in our neighborhoods, And built strickly as a vacation rental, not a single family residence. And all these investor homes drove prices up up and away. Realtors were making more commission and many got into the building of these vacation rentals and took full advantage of the lax mortgage rules then. Now you can see these same realtors names show up in the paper under foreclosure sales. Hope they lose their butts!! And yes, if vacation rentals were outlawed now, I’m sure values would decrease some more, but now while the real estate market is hopefully at the bottom and starting back up, is the best time to stop these motels in our neighborhoods. That way, anyone buying now would know, no vacation rentals!… Limiting the number of vacation rentals in each area or per street would be great, unless the rental is next door to you. Picking areas allowing vacation rentals may be better. The Keys are what? 70% to 80% second or vacation homes? Maybe a good choice. And the area between Ski Run and the casinos would also be good. Investors could buy up two or three of those long worn out properties adjacent to each other and build that huge obnoxious vacation home, like the one close to Wildwood and Pioneer Trail that is almost complete. What a nightmare it is and terrible location. Anyway, It would be a win for the area and real estate. That whole area is where redevelopement should be. And without building on open space. Tear down the old and build new leaving all the open space alone.
That area is also close to the casinos and Heavenly. Ski run businesses would love it. And by keeping the tourists close to the casinos/heavenly core, those of us making Tahoe our home as FULL TIME residence can live in other areas, away from all the rowdy baloney. So, how do we get rid of the vacation rentals? Elect council members who don’t own them! Next, an item on the ballot to be voted on by all, this would probably be best, all the locals can speak. Maybe we would have a large voter turn out for a change! Both Supervisor Santiago and councilwoman Lovell have problems with vacation rentals but have done nothing to stop them. Hope they don’t sleep tonight.
That 4000-5000-6000+ was refering to the square footage of the monsters that were and still are being built.
Another reason to get rid of the vacation homes is to get visitors out of their rooms and spend money. It has become the norm in my neighborhood, that the groups renting these homes stay put. They party in the indoor pool, play in the snow in the yard, and bbq on the patio. Never leaving the property to spend those all important dollars. So all we get out of them is the measly TOT. Put them in motels on hwy 50 and get them out to spend!!
I like the move them down towards Ski Run-Stateline idea. That area really needs to be revamped, and they would be close to where all the action is, and where they could spend their tourist dollar. Might even decrease the amount of cars they drive up here, as they would know once they got here, that they could get to most any place they wanted to on foot.
Funny what you said about realtors getting involved in building–I knew it was about to crash when all the restaurant/bar employees started becoming real estate agents! That band wagon was getting WAY too heavy!
dg, remember when Lumbough(correct spelling?) real estate school opened up and everyone became an agent? Flipping of houses contributed to our downfall along with toxic mortgages. KL lives right next door to a vacation rental yet she can’t vote on anything lest she seems biased. We have to get folks on the council who don’t own property, a business in town, have friends in high places or have a position on any of the service groups in town lol. I don’t think such a person exists but that is the person we need so council members can stop “reclusing” themselves from the hard votes.
If Lovell doesn’t own a vacation rental it seems like she should be able to vote. And hopefully she would vote against them! Nothing like first hand knowledge!
I think vacation rental homes are great for families, especially those with young children and babies.
The young people who want to party and get drunk should stay in a motel/hotel and go party at the casinos, they can party at their own residences and make their neighbors angry at them in their own city.
That nightmare vacation rental with the indoor pool I mentioned in an early post-I called the sheriff on them at midnight sunday night because of the yahoos yelling in the pool! Sheriff responded with in 10 minutes and put a stop to the noise so we could get back to sleep. This is easily the 10th time in the past 6 months or so I have called the sheriff on this house. Complaints of noise, too many people-as many as 20+( unfortunately 14 are legal), and too many cars that were often parked in neighbors driveways. All valid complaints with the sheriff responding, yet this house still has a license and is still renting!! Why? How do we get rid of these nightmares?
SLT Local- Families with kids are some of the worst offenders. The noise is ridiculous! Kids yelling and screaming, parents yelling at or with the kids, all in an otherwise very quiet neighborhood. And children do live in my neighborhood. If people wish to rent a vacation home, they need to make sure all of their actions fit in with the neighborhood.
Steven,
You must not have kids, because that situation can be any family not just vacationers.
Steven HAVE YOU EVERY THOUGHT ABOUT BUILDING A PLACE ON TOP FRILL PEAK,I BET IT REALLY QUITE THERE.
CareaboutthecommunityMay 31, 2010 at 11:20 amI like the move them down towards Ski Run-Stateline idea. That area really needs to be revamped, and they would be close to where all the action is, and where they could spend their tourist dollar.
Care that’s why a lot living down here love it,close to the lifts,shows,shopping,Casinos…anyone wants to move this way Ok with us.There’s a lot earthy people .Yes we accept kids too.
The best revamping is all us sharing each other,People are really friendly,sit in the yards bbq, talk,listen to tunes both record and live.
Yes we talk to the out town 2 days locals,(renters),most are very pleasant,They Want enjoy the pine breeze,sitting on the deck with a late night candle,drink.A lot the same people come back to these funky cabins every winter ,summer,not too many people let their egos get in front of meeting each other.
My only suggestion is if a rental has A Bad problem is to get a petition from other neighbors TO JOIN,or is it just one who complains regardless.?
I’ve been there done this before,you take some money out your pocket get a damn good attorney, you won’t make many friends and people will remember you.But what the hell you got what you paid for “RIGHT”?
THEN ALL THE NEIGHBORS GET TO REALLY SEE WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM AND YOU WON’T SHARE THEIR GOOD TIMES ,PARTIES, OUTING TO THE BEACHES,GOOD HUMAN ACTIVITY..”LAUGHING””JOY”.
SLT Local and H-
You are right, I don’t have kids. But he screaming and yelling the vacationers make is way beyond the kids that live in my neighborhood. And the adults too! There is no reason for all the noise, just total inconsideration!!
Guess what? It is really quiet on top of Freel (check the spelling) Peak, but it’s usually windy and a long way from the Grocery Outlet.
When I bought my house in 1985 I did get exactly what I paid for, a home in a quiet setting, very close to trails and the Truckee River, and friendly, quiet, considerate neighbors who lived in the neighborhood for the same reasons. Once vacation rentals started popping up, all the peace and quiet was lost and we gained traffic, noise, mega nigttime lighting so you can’t see the stars, and garbage everywhere. Why should I have to pay a lawyer to hopefully keep what was mine and many others. If more people would speak up and not be afraid of complaining, maybe we wouldn’t have these motels in our neighborhoods.
And glad it’s ok with you if all the tourists come stay in your neighborhood, you can have them all!
Steve ,I’m Glad all us are on good terms ,too bad you can’t find a solution.
You getting a city industry to stop neighborhood rentals is a long road without ligation.You just make yourself very unhappy,Guess you know what best for you.Solitary People usually live in Solitary areas.Tahoe not a solitary place anymore, it’s a world destination of parties,gambling,meat markets for love,Broken Dreams,high prices, continued changes of ideas,a constant change of people coming ,going,Never really sleeps.Some people come to Tahoe to have a good time,it’s a 24 hour town,not all the people sleep at the same time.
Not unreasonable to see someone bbq steaks at 3 A.M.with people sitting out talking,doing what 8 to 5 people do.Worked 6 to 2 A.m. for 10 years,really like it,a whole different kind life, even use to water ski under a full moon with a lot people from the swing shift.Never have had a noise complaint in 4 decades, and we weren’t Angels.
Tahoe lifestyle a lot like the real beach town communities,a lot people doing their thing.No one even notices anymore.
Most of us on the 4 blocks stretch we live on,we all go out with the handle pickup trash devices keep our own neighborhood clean.Most the trash ,beer bottles, broken open trash bags are from the Heavenly Valleys Slobs driving through the neighborhood (cut through)throwing it out before they hit the road back to the bay area.The city never figured out that we need easy drive up public containers for tourist use.
We don’t complain to the city ,we try fix the problem ourselves,the city never helps you ,You should know that if you been here a few decades.
We got a neighborhood watch,trash pickup,leash your dog policy,treat your neighbor like you liked to be treated philosophy.Works pretty good conceding the people who move in for a few months to a few years to the long time locals.
Patients is a art from ,it brings you many years of harmony,understanding both sides of the story, communication is the threshold to what Society is and what it could become.
The only true utopias are within every person reach,it’s what you do to keep yourself happy that counts.
When you let someone get under your skin, you are the loser,stop letting people push your buttons,learn how to become stealth in mind and body.
Does anyone know if a brochure, or mandatory posted sign in the rental has ever been tried? It could try to educate people on how to behave while in the rental ie treat it with the same respect as your own house, and be considerate of the neighbors.
Care that’s what you teach your kids,it’s part the moral system.It’s part the golden rules, haven’t you ever read the golden rules?
You either got it or you were never taught.
People need to understand that only a small portion of the year round residents are old.
Only Incline Villager is were dinosaurs go to die.
Balance is part of the throwing wheel secret,when you get out being round you just fall off turn back to dirt.
Care, signage already IS mandatory. There are certain signs posted on the outsides of rentals in the city, don’t know the requirements for the inside. My neighbors in the county have indoor signage about the basic requirements, but if the renters turn out to be clods, all the signs in the world won’t change their behavior. Only sheriff intervention works in those situations.
It’s been my experience in life, that the only way to get peoples attention to rules/laws is to take their money when they don’t follow the rules! Fines wake people up, especially when the dollar amount is large enough to sting. If a noise complaint or too many people or too many cars or any other complaint is filed with the sheriff and the sheriff arrives and finds the complaint valid and has to get the renters to follow the rules, a $200 fine should be sent to the owner, a second offense-$500, third-$1000! It would be up to the owner to be reimbursed by the renters. These offenses should stay on the homes account for 1 year, so if there is a noise complaint in June 2010 and another in August 2010, August is the second and costs $500. In June of 2011 the complaint from June of 2010 comes off. If you think these are to large, compare them to the $80 the county animal control charges for a first offense when picking up your dog!
Are there among us some suffering from ocd?
Some people get so obsessed they forget what right, fair for all!
Is there zoning requirement that limits the number of people permitted per “monster house”? Are smoke alarms required in bedrooms? Are landlords allowed to add on bedrooms to garage areas without providing adequate exit in event of fire?