Sales Tax

CITY HALL — City officials again are recommending that the City Council forgo setting aside sales tax revenue for public infrastructure improvements. Instead, they want that money used to help plug a projected $18-million budget deficit. Much of the sales tax revenue that was used for capital improvements — everything from street maintenance to new park facilities — already has been diverted in recent years to the General Fund, which supports basic public services. Last year, the City Council voted to divert 100% of city sales tax revenue to support General Fund operations amid continued budget deficits.

DOWNTOWN — Local businesses are hoping to capitalize on a rush of customers before a sales tax hike takes effect Wednesday that will thrust the rate in Los Angeles County to 9.75%. The county’s current sales tax rate is 8.25% and will jump by 1% statewide because of a measure included in California’s new budget act that is aimed at resolving a deficit of more than $42 billion. But rates in the county will grow by a half-cent more than other regions because of Measure R, a public transportation initiative that voters approved in November to fund a series of rail, bus and freeway developments.

GLENDALE — Los Angeles County shoppers will pay an extra half-cent on their purchases starting today, when the sales tax will jump to nearly 10% as part of an effort to fund regional public transportation developments, including new carpool lanes on a local stretch of the Golden State (5) Freeway. The Measure R sales tax, approved by more than two-thirds of voters in November, is expected to generate $40 billion over 30 years for a series of Metropolitan Transportation Authority rail, bus, highway and road projects throughout the county, but will also add a burden on citizens and businesses during the recession, officials said.

Karen S. Kim GLENDALE -- Sales-tax revenues in Glendale crept up only 1.1% during its fourth quarter 2001, despite expectations that holiday season sales would push earnings higher. Without the increased sales tax receipts from Glendale's auto industry, which leaped from about $1.80 million in revenues in fourth quarter 2000 to about $2.14 million during fourth quarter 2001, the city would have seen a 5.7% decline in sales-tax revenues between October and December, said Bob Franz, Glendale' director of finance and administrative services.

The Glendale City Council Tuesday endorsed a proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would increase law enforcement funding at the state level. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who spoke to the council Tuesday, has been leading the drive to put the issue on the November ballot, where it requires two-thirds approval. He told the council that the cost of the increased tax will be about $12 per month for the average resident, and the measure will raise about $500 million a year.

Ryan Carter The city was hoping to have more in its coffers from sales-tax revenue by now, but officials expect better results next year. Sales-tax revenue for the first nine months of the fiscal year is down a bit, city officials said. Officials expressed some concern over the 2.3% decrease in sales- tax revenue, but also predicted an increase for the next fiscal year. Then again, they also thought it would pick up this year. So far this fiscal year -- which started June 30 -- sales-tax revenue from the city's businesses made up about 12%, or $13.45 million, of the projected $110-million general fund.

Ryan Carter Finance officials are studying a bill moving through the state Legislature that could mean less sales-tax revenue for the city. The bill, introduced by Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would reduce local shares of sales-tax revenue by half and replace the difference with property-tax revenues. More specifically, half of every penny a city earns from sales tax would be replaced by a larger share of property-tax revenue. Annually, Glendale receives about $26 million in sales-tax revenue and $14 million in property-tax revenue, officials said.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Quarterly sales tax revenue generated by the city between January and March declined for the first time in more than five years, further evidence of a sluggish economy. The city collected $6.3 million during the first quarter of 2001 compared to $6.6 million over the same period last year, a drop of 5.1%, city officials said Friday. But a quarterly report compiled by consultant Hinderliter, de Llamas and Associates said accounting adjustments and a large one-time payment made during the first quarter of 2000, skewed the results.

The Americana at Brand generated about $1.16 million in sales tax revenue in 2010, 19% below expectations, but the mega-retail development has far exceeded property value projections, city officials reported Tuesday. The Americana's assessed value in fiscal year 2011-12 was $479.9 million, more than double what had been projected, according to staff report presented to the Redevelopment Agency. The higher-than-expected valuation generated about $3.67 million in tax revenue for the agency.

We all feel it when gas prices spike. It's a pattern every four years that coincides with elections. Israel threatens to strike Iran, Iran threatens to block oil shipments and presidential candidates spew inflammatory rhetoric. Suddenly, oil companies see a windfall opportunity with prices spiking - a dollar per-gallon in the last month alone. What is different this time is that as a result of our economy, a lot of people have lost their jobs, and those who still have a job haven't seen a raise in years.

The Americana at Brand generated about $1.16 million in sales tax revenue in 2010, 19% below expectations, but the mega-retail development has far exceeded property value projections, city officials reported Tuesday. The Americana's assessed value in fiscal year 2011-12 was $479.9 million, more than double what had been projected, according to staff report presented to the Redevelopment Agency. The higher-than-expected valuation generated about $3.67 million in tax revenue for the agency.

Drive down any main street and it is hard not to notice all the empty shops, the “Going Out Of Business” and “For Lease” signs, the proliferation of 99-cent and dollar stores. Book stores and record shops have largely disappeared. Major electronics retailers like Circuit City are long-gone, Fry’s greets customers with leaflets declaring they’ll match any Internet price and now Best Buy plans to wall off a quarter of its giant stores and rent the rest of the space to grocers, beauty suppliers — anybody with a buck.

CITY HALL — City officials again are recommending that the City Council forgo setting aside sales tax revenue for public infrastructure improvements. Instead, they want that money used to help plug a projected $18-million budget deficit. Much of the sales tax revenue that was used for capital improvements — everything from street maintenance to new park facilities — already has been diverted in recent years to the General Fund, which supports basic public services. Last year, the City Council voted to divert 100% of city sales tax revenue to support General Fund operations amid continued budget deficits.

Surprise, surprise! The budget holes facing Burbank, Glendale and just about every other city just keep getting deeper. It’s a sure thing that next year’s deficits will be even worse, even in reasonably well-run cities. America is undergoing a dramatic economic change. We no longer manufacture enough to produce high-paying jobs with good benefits that have fueled our consumer-driven economy since World War II. Most economists, and city officials for that matter, know our economic troubles today are not cyclical phenomena with recovery just around the corner.

Just days before a clash between private-property rights and Glendale’s redevelopment power is expected to come to a head over whether to back plans to shutter the Golden Key Hotel on Colorado Street and make it part of the Americana at Brand shopping center, experts say there may not be much of a fight. Golden Key owner Ray Patel has battled the plan at every step, rejecting Americana at Brand developer Rick Caruso’s $6-million buyout offer and unveiling his own plan to revamp his hotel.

Two years after changing the face of Brand Boulevard, the Americana at Brand has not paid off in sales tax revenue the way city officials hoped, but has boosted Glendale’s fortunes in other ways. At $1.16 million, sales tax revenue from the mixed-use shopping center was 15% less than expected in 2009, according to a Glendale Redevelopment Agency report. But the property tax assessment for the center — which includes 75 shops, a multiplex theater, apartments and condominiums — should reach $3.64 million for the current fiscal year, according to the report, or more than double the $1.44 million take estimated in 2003.

CITY HALL — City officials this week projected a $10-million shortfall for next year, even as they look to absorb a current $3.7-million deficit with an ongoing hiring freeze. Finance Director Bob Elliot attributed the projected deficit in the $164.8-million general fund to less-than-expected revenue from sales tax receipts, construction fees and interest on city investments. “As everyone knows, the development has dwindled quite a bit, resulting in a lot fewer fees and projects going forward,” Elliot told the City Council Tuesday during a mid-year budget update.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to eliminate the state’s sales tax on gasoline and replace it with a fixed excise tax will not affect funds for local road maintenance as city officials had initially feared, the state legislative analyst’s office said Wednesday. The governor’s plan would replace the sales tax on gas, taken as a percentage of a total purchase, and replace it with an increase in the state’s per-gallon gas excise tax, from 18 cents to 28.8 cents.

CITY HALL — City officials Tuesday celebrated the receipt of nearly $500,000 in Los Angeles County sales tax revenue to fund what they said were much-needed street and transportation improvements. The funds were the first installment of money generated by Measure R — a voter-approved sales tax hike pushed for by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 2008 to fund transit improvements. The half-cent sales tax, which went into effect July 1, is expected to generate about $40 billion during the next 30 years — 15% of which will go directly to the county’s 88 cities.