There is nothing wrong with increasing the amount of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) the County receives, but Measure K is the wrong way to do it. 

Efforts by the Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau and its lodging partners to promote our destination and grow the local tourism industry have already helped increase the County’s TOT receipts over the past decade by nearly 50% from $7.8 million to $11.6 million. 

According to the California Travel & Tourism Commission’s most recent California Travel Impacts study, the $13.3 million in total visitor-generated tax receipts (TOT and sales tax) amount to over $1700 for every single household in Mariposa County, which is nearly nine times the state average.  These taxes, paid each and every year by tourists, constitute over half of the County’s discretionary general fund.  

Yet the County seems to believe it needs even more.  The right way to increase TOT, though, is not to burden the lodging industry with a higher tax rate, but to support efforts to grow visitation during the traditional off and shoulder seasons.  And the right way to do that is to attract more group events, meetings and conferences.  This is why both the Tourism Bureau and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) share a strategic focus to grow group business to keep “heads in beds” throughout the year. 

Growing the tourism industry by expanding the season in win/win public/private partnerships will not only increase TOT, it will also create more full-time, year-round jobs.  The Board of Supervisors recently supported just such a partnership by approving an extension for the Silver Tip development in Fish Camp, and when fully operational, this facility could generate as much as a million dollars in TOT annually (at the current 10% rate), while creating upwards of 100 jobs.  Similar win/win benefits will occur if the EDC is successful recruiting a developer-operator to build a high-end resort hotel and conference center in the town of Mariposa. 

But tax increases almost always undermine job creation, and that is exactly what Measure K will do here.  Increasing the Transient Occupancy Tax rate will make it more difficult to compete for bookings from the many groups that hold events, meetings and conferences, and that in turn will make it more difficult to convince businesses to invest in Mariposa County.  The result will be continued layoffs in the shoulder and off seasons, and no new developments creating new jobs. 

So while the public sector might benefit from this proposed tax increase, it will do so at the expense of the private sector.  And not just for lodging businesses, but for every local business that depends directly or indirectly on tourist spending.  For unlike the government with the ability to give itself a raise by raising taxes, the rest of us need to live within a budget.  So if Measure K passes, that additional $1.4 million in TOT will be coming out of vacation budgets, leaving tourists less to spend in local shops and restaurants. 

Please support local businesses and reject this job-killing tax increase! 


Roger Biery
Mariposa, CA