All of the conversations about the VDH transient tax is new to me. We have an August GCV reservation. Will we have a transient tax?
Under the applicable Anaheim Municipal Ordinance, Chapter 2.12.000 et seq., there is a 15% temporary occupancy tax on the rental cost of a room payable by the person staying in a room when at hotels and similar entities. Timeshares could be subject to that based on some determined fair rental value of the room.
However, under a special section of the ordinance applicable to timeshares, Anaheim and the timeshare operator can enter into a Transient Occupancy Tax agreement (TOT agreement), which can have a different agreed to tax rate, and can also have that tax applied to the timeshare interests as part of dues rather than charged to those with a reservation for the room (either method can be agreed to). VGC has been subject to an agreement charging a tax via dues with Anaheim since VGC came into existence, which I understand has been modified at times, and the applicable annual dues, at least recently, have been in the 50-51 cent per point range (it has risen over the years).
It appears VGH is not going to have an agreement that will have a tax covered by dues. Instead, it is going to be a tax on the reservation for the room, and it appears the agreement reached currently provides a tax rate of $2.73 a point for the points used for any stay. What is not clear from reports I have seen is whether that tax will be something charged the member as part of the reservation or only charged to actual occupant of the room at time staying there (the usual method of applying the 15% to hotel stays).
VGH owners who do not go every year, or use their points to stay at times at WDW, will not pay the tax when not going to VGH. However, any owners from other
DVC resorts who reserve VGH will be subject to the tax. The tax will likely have an effect on members who rent -- if the member has to pay the tax when reserving, the rent amount may need to cover it; if the occupant pays, there could be a serious impact on rentals by members, e.g., rental amount may have to be lower than usual to account for the tax the customer has to pay, and many may be reluctant to rent from a member if they have to cover the tax at time of stay. It may also impact sales of VGH -- potential buyer sees he has to pay high annual dues, e.g., $9 a point and then also has to pay another $2.73 a point to actually stay at VGH. With VGH, Anaheim will get the income from the taxes only for reserved rooms rather than having a known annual amount coming in the form of VGC dues, e.g., have a pandemic that closes the rooms and it still collects the VGC taxes.