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July 30, 2015 <br />Stephany Aguilar, President <br />League of California Cities <br />1400 K Street <br />Sacramento, CA 95814 <br />Mammoth Lakes Town Council <br />P.O. Box 1609, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 93546 <br />(760) 934-8989 <br />www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov <br />RE: LETTER IN SUPPORT OF A RESOLUTION OF THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES <br />SUPPORTING SB 593 (MCGUIRE) <br />Dear President Aguilar: <br />The Town of Mammoth Lakes supports the proposed resolution related to the Sharing Economy <br />and concurs in the submission of the resolution for consideration by the League of Cities <br />General Assembly at its annual meeting on October 2, 2015. The Town of Mammoth Lakes is a <br />small, rural community in the Eastern Sierra Region of about 8,000 full-time residents. <br />Mammoth Lakes is a tourist destination, servicing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. <br />We are geographically isolated from populated areas by several hundred miles and are <br />supported by our one primary industry — tourism. <br />The League's proposed resolution reaffirms and acknowledges local efforts to effectively <br />regulate land use impacts and collect applicable taxes from transient residential rentals as part <br />of the emerging "shared economy". <br />The short-term rental of residential houses, rooms, condominiums, and apartments present <br />numerous challenges within neighborhoods and to adjacent property owners. They may create <br />additional noise, traffic, parking, privacy and public safety issues, subvert local rent -control laws, <br />and decrease available housing stock. In Mammoth Lakes, with a limited police force that is not <br />staffed 24 -hours a day and a code enforcement staff of one, enforcement of these types of <br />issues can be very challenging. <br />Where the temporary rental of residential units is allowed by local regulation, the associated <br />transient occupancy tax (TOT) should also be collected. These units are in direct competition <br />with hotels, motels and other accommodations where guests pay the local transient occupancy <br />tax, so all transient rentals should be subject to the same tax. The revenues generated support <br />local services, including but not limited to, public safety, snow removal, maintenance of public <br />parks and facilities, road maintenance, and recreation programs, which directly affect local <br />quality of life and the attraction of the community for a visitor. <br />This proposal will make it much easier for communities such as Mammoth Lakes that depend <br />on revenue from TOT to enforce existing rules and regulations and collect TOT as specified in <br />our Municipal Code. Mammoth Lakes relies heavily on TOT collection to operate the Town <br />government; nearly 65% of the Town's operating budget is funded by the collection of TOT. <br />