Quicklinks
Tourism & Economic Development
211 Jackson Street | Bastrop, Texas 78602 | Phone: (512) 581-4011 | Fax: (512) 581-7178

Adena Lewis, Director
Voice: (512) 581-4011
Adena.Lewis@co.bastrop.tx.us

Hours of Operation

Monday through Friday, 8:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.

Bastrop County offers a business-friendly culture, great infrastructure, a talented workforce and dedicated partners – all in a beautiful setting.
 
Our friendly nature makes Bastrop County ideal for tourists and the businesses that serve them.
 
Our Texas Film Friendly hospitality, three historic downtowns, diverse landscapes and waterways, and proximity to major metropolitan areas and the Austin Bergstrom International Airport, also make this a great place for film productions.
 
The county offers a wide variety of lodging facilities, hometown hospitality, beautiful recreation areas including Bastrop and Buescher State Parks, McKinney Roughs Nature Park, the Colorado River, and Lake Bastrop, and incredible entertainment venues and things to do.

Economic Development Corporations

 Facebook iconwww.facebook.com/bastropcountyedo

County Partnerships

Hotel Occupancy Tax

Short Term Lodging Tax in Bastrop County

Hotel Occupancy Tax, commonly known as HOT, are collected by the short term rental (STR) property from guests who are renting a bed/space for less than 30 days consecutively. The tax is paid on the room rate including other fees such as cleaning fees, pet fees, etc. In the Tax Code, the State of Texas determines the items that are taxable and the remittance schedule.

The lodging property collects these taxes from their guests and remits them accordingly. Please note that online services such as Airbnb and Homeaway collect taxes for the State (6%), but do not collect local taxes. The property owner is responsible for full collection of taxes and their remittance.

Short-term rental properties, named as “hotels” for tax purposes, include but are not limited to hotel, motel, bed & breakfast, vacation rental lodging such as AirBnB, inn, rooming house, manufactured home, residency inn, condominium, cabin, cottage, guest house, a room in your house, and glamping tent.

Not all counties in Texas have a Hotel Occupancy Tax, but Bastrop County is one of the counties which does. 

TAX RATE

The rate of the tax is based on the property location within the County.

If the lodging property is located:

Outside a city limit and outside of their extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ):

  • To the State of Texas        6%
  • To Bastrop County           7%

Inside a city limits or inside their ETJ:

  • To the State of Texas        6%
  • To Bastrop County           0.75%
  • To the City                       7%

Hotels and motels are to pay monthly, while smaller venues may pay quarterly, based on revenues.

If you have ZERO OVERNIGHT STAYS during a filing period, you are still required to report in Localgov, but you will report $0 revenues.

NEW PROCEDURE FOR FILING HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX

BEGINNING OCTOBER 2, 2023, all Bastrop County Lodging Properties are required to file and submit their Hotel Occupancy Tax online via Localgov.   The report forms are now discontinued.

Taxpayer Letter with Localgov instructions - PDF

REGISTER YOUR PROPERTY with LOCALGOV, SETUP PAYMENTS, and GET CURRENT WITH YOUR TAX:

  Create your Account:  Set up your online account for Bastrop County here: https://tax.localgov.org/login.  It takes just a few minutes to get started. 

There will be a 3-5 working day period for us to review your tax rate and filing requirements before you will be able to report your first tax with Localgov: if you log in before set up, it will incorrectly show $0 tax owed. You are responsible for the correct filing.

  Localgov Customer Service:  Call (877) 842-3037 or email  service@localgov.org.

•  Help Center:  https://service.localgov.org/knowledge

•  Book a Personal Training:  Book a one-on-one training with Localgov Customer Service Team:    https://calendly.com/localgov/localgov-customer-service-meeting

ABOUT LOCALGOV

Localgov offers taxpayers in our community significant advantages, such as:

•  Automatic calculation of taxes and fees owed.

•  Multiple payment options including ACH/EFT drafts ($1 fee), and credit and debit card payments (3% fee) using Visa and Mastercard.

•  Payments can be made when you have time— not only during government hours.

•  No need for paper forms, envelopes, checks, or stamps.

More Information

If you have questions about your short term rental tax obligations, your tax rate, or how to comply with Bastrop County's Hotel Occupancy Tax, call Fran Hunter 512-581-4074 or email Fran. 

 Lodging Partnerships

We also work with our lodging partners in promoting our county and providing an inviting atmosphere for visitors using the Hotel Occupancy Tax funds that you collect and file. We provide helpful tourism information for your guests, and provide resources and contacts to help you be more successful in your endeavor, along with posting your lodging listing on our Tourism website under the "Where to Stay" section.

To learn more about our free resources and lodging partnership, call Fran Hunter at 512-581-4074 or email Fran.

Tourism
 
We work to attract tourists by promoting our county's many attractions, lodging, restaurants, and retail properties in the area and in our towns.
 
We invite you to explore Bastrop County and "Enjoy our Friendly Nature!"
 

  Instagram Instagram (bastrop_county)

#explorebastropcounty

Filming in Bastrop County Texas

Our communities, our businesses and our people welcome film projects in our varied terrain, river and lakes, parks, roadways and historic towns.

Bastrop County is the "Film Hospitality Capital of Texas," and all of our cities and the County are certified as "Film Friendly" by the Texas Film Commission.

Film in Bastrop

FOR FILMING IN BASTROP COUNTY, on county property such as the historic County Courthouse, County roadways or locations outside of the three cities, please return the required paperwork below to  adena.lewis@co.bastrop.tx.us :

FOR FILMING INSIDE CITY LIMITS of our three incorporated towns, please click on the links below for more information on each town's film policy. 

PERMISSION TO SHOOT AT A LOCATION

We can also help you find your permissions contacts for filming in our county. Below is one County map but there are many more jurisdictions, such as as school districts, parks, roads, etc., in our County.

Commissioner Precincts - Interactive MAP

TEXAS FILM COMMISSION

All projects should be registered at no cost with the Texas Film Commission. There might be incentives available.  Register your project for free.

LOCAL RESOURCES & LODGING

And we ask that you use local resources found at the following links:

Contact us. We're glad to assist!

Texas Map