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6.1.B. - Page 2 <br />adopted by Council on January 8, 2018, all TOT revenue generated by short-term <br />vacation rentals would be used for affordable housing purposes. <br />ANALYSIS <br />City Attorney's Office and Community Development Department staff have worked with <br />Airbnb for several months reviewing and revising the attached Voluntary Collection <br />Agreement (VCA). While the attached agreement is similar to other agreements in other <br />cities, minor changes were made based on City staff comments. <br />As the attached agreement details, AirBNB will be required to collect and remit Transit <br />Occupancy Tax to the City on behalf of its hosts in Redwood City beginning on August <br />1, 2018 Although tax information on individual hosts will not be reported, AirBNB will <br />also be required to submit aggregated information. Finally, the City of Redwood City will <br />also be able to audit Airbnb once every four years. <br />ALTERNATIVES <br />The City may decline to enter into this agreement with Airbnb. Alternatively, the City <br />would collect TOT from individual short-term rental providers. Given that there are <br />several hundred short-term rentals in Redwood City listed on Airbnb, staff does not <br />recommend this. Individual collection would be extremely time intensive, and would <br />most likely not result in the full collection of TOT owned to the City. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />Based on current short-term rental activity in Redwood City, it is expected that the City <br />will receive approximately $300,000-$400,000 annually from Airbnb. As noted above, <br />this revenue will be dedicated to affordable housing per Council resolution. Airbnb will <br />begin collecting taxes on August 1, 2018. <br />ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW <br />This activity is not a project under CEQA as defined in CEQA Guidelines, section <br />15378, because it involves an agreement that would result in funding to be used for <br />affordable housing purposes without a commitment to any specific project, and <br />therefore has no potential resulting in either a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect <br />physical change in the environment. <br />STAFF ORIGINATOR <br />AARON AKNIN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR <br />