Any visitor who comes to stay in San Luis Obispo can expect to be greeted with smiling faces, beautiful scenery, locally owned businesses, and… the Transient Occupancy Tax. From a quick night in a hotel to a week-long spell in an Airbnb, every time a tourist stays here they contribute to tax revenue that adds to the city’s General Fund.

Since the City of SLO established the TOT, revenues have gone nowhere but up. And in fiscal year 2018-2019, the change was particularly impressive: a 7.3 percent increase, with total revenue reaching more than $8 million.

To reduce the negative environmental impact of polystyrene, the City of San Luis Obispo issued an ordinance in June 2015 which bans the use of disposable food containers made from expanded polystyrene. But with a new, county-wide ordinance under consideration on September 11, we figured it was time for a crash course on that light, convenient material we all know and use.

We’ll give you the bad news first: today our world faces a climate crisis. The good news? San Luis Obispo could be a city that incentivizes environmental stewardship and innovation: a place where the environment and the economy both win.

On September 3rd, the council will be considering, discussing, debating and mulling a suite of policies intended to decarbonize new buildings – basically to make it so that new buildings have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.