Council edits lodging-tax code so state Department of Revenue can collect on city’s behalf

The Westland City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the transient lodging tax code to allow the Oregon Department of Revenue to collect the city’s transient lodging tax on a quarterly basis rather than monthly.

City staff told the council that the city has already executed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the state to have the Department of Revenue collect lodging taxes for the city. The state, however, collects on a quarterly schedule; the city code referenced monthly collection. To align local code with the state’s collection cadence and permit implementation of the IGA, staff proposed changing language in the municipal code from “monthly” to “quarterly.”

Councilors approved the first reading and, on second reading, adopted the ordinance. Staff said no other substantive changes were made to the lodging-tax chapter; the amendment only updates the collection frequency to match state practice so the department can take over remittance processing.

Councilors asked no substantive questions and approved adoption. Staff will coordinate implementation with the Department of Revenue and update local administration processes to the quarterly collection schedule.