Cities to fight to preserve sales tax revenue

Local government officials throughout California are uniting to oppose impending legislation in Sacramento that would create a "pilot program" to redistribute future growth in local sales taxes.

The initial target for tax redistribution is the Sacramento region, but critics warn that if the program is extended statewide, hundreds of cities will be at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars in vital local sales tax revenues in the future.

Local elected leaders say they know the needs of their individual communities and that they—not state politicians—should decide how the sales tax revenues are distributed.

According to the state legislative analyst, local cities rely on sales taxes to pay for emergency response, police and fire protection, street repair and lighting, libraries, parks and other services.

Sales tax revenues for local cities in 1999-2000 include: Agoura Hills, $1.4 million; Calabasas, $3.6 million; Malibu, $1.8 million; Port Hueneme, $620,000; and Santa Monica, $24 million.

"City officials outside the Sacramento area are worried that this legislation sets a precedent to redistribute local government revenues in other regions of the state," said a representative from the League of California Cities.

The proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 680, authored by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would allow cities to keep only one-third of sales tax growth revenue without limitations.

The bill then would redistribute another one-third of sales tax growth revenue from cities to other jurisdictions and agencies in the surrounding region on the basis of population.

AB-690 then could take the final one-third of sales tax growth revenue from cities to other jurisdictions and agencies in the surrounding region on the basis of population.

The proposed bill then could take the final one-third if a particular city doesn’t "measure up" to new state-imposed requirements for affordable housing, homeless care, urban infill, open space acquisition and other programs.

For the past 25 years, state and federal support for local government has plummeted, according the the League of Cities.