DATE: October 21, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Financial Services Department
TITLE: APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH DECKARD TECHNOLOGIES, INC. FOR SHORT TERM RENTAL MONITORING, COMPLIANCE AND REGISTRATION SERVICES AND TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE SERVICES.
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council approve a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Deckard Technologies, Inc. in the amount of $269,539 for a three-year term with an option to extend for two additional one-year terms for short term rental (STR) monitoring, compliance and registration services and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) registration and compliance services; appropriate $85,500 from the General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance; approve an ongoing increase to the General Fund budget for $85,500 annually; and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
On June 19, 2019, the City Council adopted short term rental regulations in response to the dramatic increase in residential properties being used as short-term rentals and concerns from citizens and neighborhood groups. The ordinance established STR regulations including the STR permit program, permit exemptions, and operational requirements.
On January 10, 2024, the City Council adopted an amendment to Chapter 24 of the Oceanside City Code to prohibit new non-hosted STRs outside the Coastal Zone in partial response to the dramatic increase in short term rentals throughout the City.
On May 8, 2024, the City Council adopted the proposed amendment to Chapter 24 of the Oceanside City Code to limit new STR permits issued west of Coast Highway to residential zones except for R-1 Zone, where new permits are prohibited, institutes a cap of 480 total non-hosted permits in the Coastal Zone west of Coast Highway. These modifications to Chapter 24 impacting the Coastal Zone will require a Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA) for consideration by the California Coastal Commission (Coastal Commission). Currently, the LCPA is awaiting Coastal Commission review.
Since 2019, the City has contracted with Neumo Group LLC, previously GovOS, Inc., in support of the MUNIRevs application for short term rental and transient occupancy tax compliance services. The application allowed staff to implement interdepartmental collaborative workflows and approvals, streamline and automate tasks associated with STR compliance and permitting, offer a 24/7 complaint reporting hotline and website, and provide an online portal for TOT and STR registration and payments.
In March 2026, staff issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in accordance with the City’s procurement policies for these services and received five responses. The top three vendors were invited to provide a product demonstration. The final two vendors were invited to provide an additional product demonstration. The responses were evaluated by finance, code enforcement and development services staff on service options, cost proposals, experience and software demonstrations. Deckard Technologies’ Rentalscape solution was selected as the solution to address all the City’s short-term rental and TOT needs.
Deckard Technologies is headquartered in San Diego and was founded in 2018 to support compliance within the U.S. real estate market for the public sector. Deckard leverages data science expertise to assist local governments in managing compliance activities and enforcement particularly regarding STR properties. Since 2018 Deckard has expanded to over 400 clients nationwide, over 100 in California including the City of Vista and City of Carlsbad.
Rentalscape solution, by Deckard, continually scans the internet for STR listings and they have identified more than 10,000 websites advertising short term rentals. Its patented technology links listings to exact property address and identifies duplicate listings. Non-compliant properties can trigger automated Oceanside approved compliance communications. The platform also provides an online complaint form and 24/7 hotline, with the ability to accept supporting documentation uploads and provides reporting tools for staff.
Rentalscape has a fully customizable online registration portal that can be configured to the City’s required data fields and documentation requirements, allowing operators to update accounts and submit forms online. The platform supports evolving STR ordinances, zoning provisions, and fee structures through administrative configuration and can limit new registrations based on zoning or other criteria as needed.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost of the agreement for the first year is $85,500 and total costs for the three-year agreement is $269,539 and will be charged to Revenue Management account 211010101.5355.0009. Staff is requesting to appropriate $85,500 from General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance 101.3100.0001 which has a current available balance of $5.86 million; therefore, sufficient funds are available.
Future contract years cost will be included in the annual budget process.
|
Description |
Amount |
Request to Appropriate |
Account Number |
Funding Source Requested |
Available Balance |
|
PSA with Deckard Technologies |
$85,500 |
$85,500 |
Revenue Management 211010101.5335.0009 |
General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance 101.3100.0001 |
$5.86M |
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
Does not apply.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
The referenced document has been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
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Prepared by: Jennifer Rhoades, Management Analyst
Reviewed by: Jill Moya, Financial Services Director
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager
Attachments:
1. PSA
2. Proposal
3. Cost Proposal
4. RFP