Fresno County supervisors put 12% hotel tax on your November ballot
Fresno County supervisors unanimously voted in June to put a 12% transient occupancy tax on this November’s ballot. The tax would apply to hotels, short-term rentals, campgrounds, and RV parks in the county’s unincorporated areas — places outside city limits. You’ll see it as Measure A.
Fresno County is one of only three California counties without this tax. The other two don’t have enough hotels to make it worth collecting. Fresno does. County staff estimate the tax would bring in about $4.5 million a year, mostly paid by tourists and out-of-town visitors, not residents.
Board Chair Garry Bredefeld called it “rectifying something that should have been addressed a long time ago.” Vice Chair Luis Chavez framed it as fairness: “Folks are coming in here using our infrastructure, our roads, our emergency (services), utilities, and all things of that sort. I think it’s fair to ask folks that come into our community to pay for that.”
Measure A is a general tax, not a special tax. That means the supervisors decide how to spend the money — it’s not earmarked for anything specific. It needs a simple majority to pass.
The Breakdown
- Measure A asks Fresno County voters to approve a 12% tax on temporary lodging — hotels, short-term rentals, campgrounds, RV parks.
- The tax only applies to lodging in unincorporated areas, outside city limits.
- County staff estimate it would generate about $4.5 million a year, paid mostly by tourists and non-locals.
- It’s a general tax, so the Board of Supervisors has full discretion over how the money is spent — no restrictions, no earmarks.
- It needs a simple majority to pass in November.
What This Means for You
This is $4.5 million a year in public money with no strings attached. The Board of Supervisors will decide where it goes — public safety, roads, parks, salaries, whatever they vote for. If you’re voting on this, you’re voting on whether to give them that discretion. The material does not identify what specific services or projects this money would fund, or what problem it would solve that current revenue doesn’t.
Fresno County residents already pay versions of this tax when they travel to other counties. Supervisors are asking you to approve collecting it from visitors here.
What You Can Do
Measure A is on your November ballot. Vote on it.
What to Watch
The board is selling this as a tax on tourists, not residents. That’s mostly true — but not entirely. Fresno County residents staying at a hotel or campground in the unincorporated areas would pay it too. The material doesn’t break down how much of that $4.5 million estimate comes from locals versus out-of-towners.
This is a general tax, which means the supervisors can spend it on anything. No oversight, no dedicated purpose, no requirement to show where it went. Chavez said the money would cover “infrastructure, roads, emergency services, utilities.” That’s a pitch, not a commitment. If you’re voting yes, you’re trusting the supervisors to spend it well. If you want to know how they’d actually use it, ask them before November — the answer isn’t in the ballot language.
Who benefits? The county government gets $4.5 million a year in unrestricted revenue. Who loses? Visitors to unincorporated Fresno County pay 12% more for a hotel room or campsite. Whether that trade is worth it depends on whether you think the supervisors will use the money responsibly, or whether you think leaving $4.5 million uncollected is the better call.
