The City of Ridgecrest Finance Department is responsible for the administration and collections of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Ridgecrest Tourism Improvement District assessment (RTID). Hotel operators and property owners engaged in the business of renting to transients should be aware that current TOT tax rate is 10% and 3% for the RTID assessment.

A transient is defined as any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy for 30 days or less.

If your property is located within the City of Ridgecrest and is rented out to transient occupants for 30 calendar days or less, you are responsible for registering, collecting, and remitting the Transient Occupancy Tax and Ridgecrest Tourism Improvement District assessment to the City of Ridgecrest. Examples of lodging businesses subject to the TOT/RTID include:

• Hotel/Motel
• Vacation/Short-term Rentals of any kind (i.e. house, room, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobilehome or house trailer at a fixed location, or other similar structure or portion thereof.)

You will need to post a transient occupancy tax certificate or business license (4 or more units). After your first filing, a transient occupancy tax certificate will be sent to the mailing address on file.

More detailed information regarding the transient occupancy tax is available through the links below:

RMC Article V - Transient Occupancy Tax 

Resolution 17-42 -  Ridgecrest Tourism Improvement District 

The City has contracted with HdL Companies to process monthly remittance for TOT/RTID.  Please register with them by going to https://ridgecrest.hdlgov.com/ or by phone (760) 239-9323 or by email ridgecresttot@hdlgov.com.

Important Dates