Mountain View Moves Forward with Revenue Measures

Government Affairs Mountain View Moves Forward with Revenue Measures At a recent study session, the Mountain View City Council agreed that while the budget is secure, the city lacks funding to address critical infrastructure needs. One of those critical needs is the $160 million estimated for a new public safety building. There are also needs for fire services, park space, affordable housing, and climate change initiatives. These were all presented in the same study session that can be seen HERE.

City staff presented several options for revenues, all looking to generate around $5 million per year. This generally was agreed upon to take the form of a general tax, which only requires 50%+ approval to pass. However, they are still considering whether or not this should be a transient occupancy tax (TOT or hotel), a property transfer tax, a utility users tax, or a sales tax. It appears the primary focus now would be evaluating the feasibility of a TOT which hasn’t been updated since 1991 and still sits at 10%. Some neighboring cities are as high as 15%.

Real estate taxes received healthy discussion, but the council was split on a transfer tax increase. Mountain View already has one of the higher rates, with $3.30 being charged per $1,000 of value. A tiered approach was discussed, similar to San Jose, but received tepid support. Another suggestion was a parcel tax on commercial and industrial properties. The only formal action was to hire a consultant to conduct polling and organize community outreach around the various proposals.

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Selena Young
Realtor | Coldwell Banker Realty
DRE# 02073411