Pass: 254 / 75.82% Yes votes ...... 81 / 24.18% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney

The City of Ferndale currently imposes a tax in the amount of 8% of the rent charged to persons who stay at a hotel within the Ferndale City limits. This tax is called the transient occupancy tax ("TOT"). The tax is paid by the hotel room occupant directly to the hotel operator at the time the occupant pays his or her hotel bill. Hotel operators hold the collected taxes in trust for the benefit of the City and remit the taxes quarterly to the City tax administrator.

If this measure is approved by the electorate, the TOT shall increase by 2% from the present 8% rate to 10%. Therefore, if this measure is approved, a person who stays in a hotel within the City of Ferndale will pay 10% of the rent charged by the hotel operator as a TOT. All of the TOT revenues collected by the City are used, and shall continue to be used, for City general fund purposes.

The ordinance proposed by this ballot measure will be adopted if this measure is approved by a simple majority of those electors voting on the measure at the November 3, 2015 election.

A "yes" vote would approve an increase in the City's TOT by 2%. A "no" vote would reject the proposed 2% increase in the City's TOT.

S/ Russell S. Gans, City Attorney

The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure C. If you desire a copy of the ordinance, please call the City Clerk for the City of Ferndale at (707) 786-4224 and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you. The proposed ordinance can also be viewed at (or a copy obtained from) Ferndale City Hall, 834 Main Street, Ferndale, California, during regular business hours. A copy of the ordinance may also be viewed on the City of Ferndale's website at: http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/.