CITY'S BUDGET GETS BOOST SALES TAX REVENUE HELPED BY HOLIDAYS.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - Retail sales in Santa Clarita increased nearly 9 percent during the last quarter of 2003 compared with the same period the previous year - a boon to the city's budget. Sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenue - Santa Clarita's chief single source of income - amounted to $6.8 million in the last three months of last year, said Darren Hernandez, the city's director of administrative services. ``In general, what this means is that businesses in the city had a very good 2003 holiday season,'' Hernandez said. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the new city sales tax report issued Wednesday, local auto dealers were a big part of the increase. Auto sales were up 7 percent during the period and contributed $1.3 million to the local economy. Three new auto dealerships, including a Mercedes-Benz lot, are part of a planned expansion of the Valencia Auto Row, already boasting about two dozen sales centers. ``Auto sales Auto Sales The major producers of domestic automobiles report sales monthly. These numbers are seasonally adjusted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and are available to the public one to five business days after the end of each month. represent 21 percent of our total sales tax revenue,'' Hernandez said. ``That is very healthy and will increase still more as the base of auto dealers expands.'' Second to auto sales as a sales tax generator were the city's discount department stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. , he said. Those businesses are key to the city treasury because even when the economy declines, they make money as shoppers hunt for values. The third biggest moneymaker for the city is the lumber and building materials Building materials used in the construction industry to create . These categories of materials and products are used by and construction project managers to specify the materials and methods used for . industry. In the third quarter, the city was encouraged by a 72 percent increase in apparel sales and 70 percent in home furnishings over the 2002 holiday shopping period. Those increases coincided with the expansion of the Valencia Town Center mall Town Center Mall may refer to:
The numbers are particularly striking when compared with the bigger picture. Gross sales Gross Sales A measure of overall sales that isn't adjusted for customer discounts or returns, calculated simply by adding all sales invoices, and not including operating expenses, cost of goods sold, payment of taxes, or any other charge. receipts for Los Angeles County increased 3 percent during the third quarter while Southern California as a whole was up 4.8 percent. Santa Clarita has been pushing a ``shop local'' campaign - particularly for auto sales - in hopes of boosting revenue during a lukewarm economy. Sales tax revenue from fourth quarter earnings was distributed to the city during the first quarter. Increased sales tax revenue comes at a time when the state is using some municipal funding to manage its own financial mess. ``I believe this underscores how important local sales tax is to our city,'' City Manager Ken Pulskamp said. ``Our new budget shows a projection of 43 percent of our general fund coming from sales tax dollars.'' Patricia Farrell Aidem, (661) 257-5251 pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com |
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