The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday granted a vacation rental tax bill waiver for Dare 2 Dream Farms in Lompoc.
A transient occupancy tax, also called a hotel tax or bed tax, is charged to short-term rentals, hotels and motels. The tax is paid by guests, but the operator is responsible for remitting the tax to the county on a monthly basis.
In a 3-2 vote, the board waived the entire unpaid tax bill of $64,840.11 for Dare 2 Dream Farms, which provides organic food and farming education on top of short-term rentals via platforms such as Hipcamp.
The supervisors previously discussed Jeremy and Megan Raff’s appeal of the tax bill at their July 7 meeting, where county staff determined that the farm had operated short-term rentals without paying the tax from April 2022 to March 2025.
The Raffs argued that they were caught in an eight-year “regulatory gray area” while the county developed its current agricultural enterprise ordinance, and enforcing those back taxes would essentially put the farm out of business. The ordinance allows agricultural properties to have tourism-related uses such as hosting events, campgrounds and short-term rentals.
Due to the farm’s unique circumstances during the ordinance development, the board decided to postpone a decision and brought the issue back at Tuesday’s meeting.
Supervisors Joan Hartmann and Steve Lavagnino supported the appeal, since the ordinance took five years to pass. During that time, the Raffs said they did not collect TOT from guests as they didn’t know whether the tax would apply to farm stays.
Hartmann specifically pointed toward the positive impact that Dare 2 Dream Farms has on the community by hosting educational visits for local residents and using grant funding to deliver fresh produce to low-income residents in Lompoc.
“They provide a unique service that nobody else does,” Hartmann said, “and if they can’t do this, the whole community suffers.”
Supervisors Roy Lee and Bob Nelson opposed granting the appeal, with Lee arguing that “ignorance is not an excuse.”
“I do want to be supportive, but I just cannot find the findings to accept their appeal,” Lee said. “I tried, and staff did a great job. They went out there and really [tried] to make it work, but unfortunately, I can’t support the appeal.”
While Supervisor Laura Capps was torn on granting the appeal, she ultimately voted in favor of the Raffs.
“’l vote with Supervisor Hartmann out of deference to your district, and the amount of money is not worth a split on this,” Capps said. “I do believe fully in the mission of what you’re doing, so [I’m] happy to support where you are.”
