Palm Springs Tourism Infrastructure District FAQs - 5/12/2026
Background
On May 12, 2026 the city held a required public meeting regarding the Palm Springs Tourism Improvement District (TID), where numerous valuable comments were received. The city appreciates the active participation of community members and stakeholders.
The TID, at its core, is an industry-led initiative — not a city-imposed tax. PS Resorts took the lead in bringing this effort forward who hired Civitas, a nationally recognized firm with over 30 years of experience in special assessment district formation. PS Resorts, industry stakeholders and Civitas led the outreach, education, and petition drive, collecting signatures from lodging businesses, asking the City to initiate proceedings to form the TID. The City's role in this process has been to provide information, transparency, and the administrative and financial framework necessary for the project to proceed.
Transparency and stakeholder engagement have been essential components of this project and its financing discussions from the very beginning. For well over a year, the City has actively convened open stakeholder meetings and engagement sessions with volunteers from across the entire lodging community — small hotel owners, large hotel operators, Short-Term Rental (STR) hosts, members of the general public and downtown business community. These participants volunteered their time, and their voices have directly shaped the scope, structure, and direction of the project and the TID framework.
The City went above the minimum noticing requirements for the TID. This was to ensure every affected business was fully informed. Once the petition threshold was met, the City distributed official notices to all hotels and STR properties within the district boundaries as required. These notices were mailed by April 12th to both registered addresses and business addresses, resulting in a combined total of over 5,500 direct mail notices — far exceeding the mandatory legal requirement. In addition, 2,800 digital notices were sent to assessed businesses using official email addresses on file, a step not required by law but initiated by the City to ensure that every assessed business had a meaningful opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed district. After hearing concerns from the STR community, PS Resorts, Civitas, and the City quickly organized a webinar to educate and inform residents about the TID.
This assessment seems unfairly allocated — why aren’t other businesses paying?
The convention center improvement are designed to provide a specific benefit to lodging businesses by driving demand for overnight visitation to hotels and short term rentals.
The assessment on lodging-only is designed to keep the PSTID’s impact concentrated on those who benefit from the proposed improvements.
How can STR owners absorb a 1% assessment when many operate at a loss?
The proposed 1% assessment may be passed on to the customer – it is not an out-of-pocket cost to the operator. The goal of this investment is not to make Palm Springs more expensive; it is to make Palm Springs more competitive. A modernized Convention Center and a more vibrant downtown will attract more conventions, meetings and events, increase demand for overnight stays, and encourage guests to return.
Will convention attendees actually stay in STRs (is there any spillover)?
The expansion of the convention center is expected to bring an additional 17,500 room night annually to Palm Springs. As it stands, Palm Springs does not have sufficient traditional hotel inventory to accommodate large conventions; meaning attendees must utilize the full lodging inventory, including STRs. While STR hosts may not always track the origin of individual guests, it is well established that convention attendees do stay in STRs, particularly for larger events. The cheerleading and dance competitions held at the Convention Center are a well-documented local example where STRs throughout the City record strong bookings coincident with Convention Center events. Under the new management contract, Oak View Group has set a goal of growing convention business from approximately 38% to 60%, a significant increase that will drive demand across all lodging types.
Can STRs accommodate convention needs or provide incentives comparable to hotels?
Palm Springs’ diverse lodging mix—including STRs—is a recognized asset, not a limitation. The Convention Center actively markets the full range of Palm Springs lodging as part of what makes the destination distinctive. For many convention attendees, STRs offer a more unique and authentic desert experience than a standard hotel room, and that flexibility is increasingly valued by event planners seeking destinations that can accommodate a range of attendee preferences. The CSL study recognizes the full lodging inventory, including STRs, as part of Palm Springs’ convention offering (Market Demand, p. 25). While large convention blocks may anchor in headquarter hotels, the broader lodging ecosystem—small hotels and STRs included—captures demand and contributes to the overall unique convention experience that meeting planners are more frequently seeking.