The city of Rancho Cucamonga is considering raising its hotel room tax.

Rancho Cucamonga’s Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), also known as a bed tax, has remained at 10% since 1983 and after 36 years, the city will be taking the pulse of the community to find out whether it supports any increase in a tax paid by visitors staying in the city, said Lori Sassoon, deputy city manager.

Any change in the city’s bed tax would have to be approved by voters. The approval would take a simple majority or need two-thirds, depending on whether the tax is a general tax or a special tax. That has not been discussed and is premature, she said.

“The City Council wants us to see if voters will be interested in adjusting that rate,” she said during an interview Tuesday. She stressed that the council did not make a decision at a special meeting Aug. 21 but did ask the staff to engage the community over the issue. Also, city staff is looking into whether to conduct a poll.

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“The hotel industry has developed rapidly in the last 10 years,” Sassoon said. “And other cities have higher rates than ours.”

Indeed, neighboring Ontario charges 12% per bed at its hotels and Riverside’s rate is 13%, according to a city report comparing TOT rates in cities in Southern California. One of the highest rates — at 15% — is charged by Anaheim.

Despite holding steady for 36 years, the amount of revenue from the tax has increased as more hotels open for business. In the past 10 years, the revenue has nearly doubled from $2.4 million to $4.6 million annually.

“A lot of people tell me that our town attracts people who come here from the airport, rent a car and drive to Disneyland,” said Councilman Sam Spagnolo. He downplayed raising the bed tax. “Right now, I don’t think anyone is interested in raising taxes,” he said during an interview Tuesday.

Upping the percentage — even by 1% — would generate another $460,000 a year based on the current hotel activity. There are 11 hotels comprising 1,163 rooms in the city. The largest is the Aloft Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga hotel on Fourth Street with 136 rooms, followed by the Residence Inn by Marriott on Haven Avenue with 126 rooms.

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Two hotels are under construction and could open by the end of the year: Hampton Inn by Hilton (108 rooms) and Tapestry by Hilton, a 71-room luxury hotel being built on the southwest corner of Day Creek Boulevard and Base Line Road within walking distance of Victoria Gardens.

Counting the 179 additional rooms from the two upcoming hotels, a 1% increase in the bed tax would create $560,000 additional TOT revenue to the city’s general fund, which is used for police, fire, roads and other programs.