Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but it’s illuminating to look back at measures taken by our local governments when the threats of the coronavirus were aired on the national media.
Mayor Steve Martin talked about the issues in early March of last year. Two days later, the Paso Robles city council called a special meeting. Their focus, not the health dangers or parklets. They met to waive fees and interest for short term rentals and hotels who had to pay the TOT, Transient Occupancy Tax. The council waived the penalty and fees for the owners of short term rentals and hotels because of cancellations.
The tax was actually collected from the visitors when they paid their bill, but the waiver allowed the operators of short term rentals and hotels to sit on the money with no penalties.
During the early days of the pandemic, Airbnb waived any penalties for cancellation of reservations, which triggered widespread cancellations across the nation.
