Mountain View voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether overnight guests should pay a higher hotel tax so the city can add general-fund revenue without a property-tax bond. Measure F would authorize the City Council to raise the transient occupancy tax (TOT) from 10% to as high as 15%. For more November contests, see our Nov. 3, 2026 Bay Area election guide.

What the measure would do

Mountain View's TOT has sat at 10% since voters last raised it in 1991, from 8%, according to city staff reports summarized by the Mountain View Voice and the Santa Clara County impartial analysis republished by California Choices. The tax is paid by guests in hotels, motels and short-term rentals; stays longer than 30 consecutive days and government employees on official business are exempt. Operators collect it with the room bill and remit it to the city.

If Measure F passes by a simple majority, it does not automatically flip the rate to 15%. City staff have said they would return to the council after the election with a proposal to set the new rate within the authorized range. California Choices' impartial-analysis summary estimates each 1 percentage-point increase could generate about $1.1 million a year, or up to roughly $5.2 million annually at the full 15% cap, until voters end the tax. Revenue would go to the unrestricted general fund.

Why the council put it on the ballot

The City Council unanimously backed the hotel-tax approach at its June 23, 2026 meeting after ditching earlier plans for a general-obligation bond once polling showed weak support, the Voice reported. Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews told the council the increase could add up to about $5.4 million a year at then-current occupancy assumptions. Mountain View has about 19 hotels and roughly 1,780 rooms, and annual TOT revenue has climbed from about $8 million in 2023–24 to more than $11 million more recently, per the staff report.

City materials say Mountain View's 10% rate is among the lowest in Santa Clara County, where most cities charge between 12% and 15.5%. Ballot language lists potential uses such as street and sidewalk repair, police, fire and 911 response, affordable housing, new parks and other general services, with annual independent audits. A formal argument in favor was signed by Mayor Emily Ann Ramos, Council members Chris Clark and Lucas Ramirez, former Mayor Mike Kasperzak and retired firefighter Dale Kuersten; the League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area also supports it. No formal argument against was filed with the county.

What your vote means

  • Yes: The council may raise the hotel/short-term-rental tax up to 15%; extra TOT revenue goes to the general fund.
  • No: The TOT stays at 10%, and the city keeps looking for other revenue tools.

Arguments and the impartial analysis appear in the Santa Clara County voter guide. Hotel guests, not Mountain View homeowners, write the check — but residents decide the ceiling.