COUNCIL PANEL QUESTIONS MAYOR'S BUSINESS TAX PLAN.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer Mayor Richard Riordan's proposal to make a sweeping overhaul of the city's business tax system ran into questions Tuesday over how much it simplifies the code and whether aspects of it would be legal. A special City Council committee exploring the tax reform proposal complained about the rush to try to resolve the issue to place the measure on the June ballot. The panel asked for more detailed information from the Mayor's Office and the council's own staff about how various companies were put in categories under the new tax plan, and an updated estimate of lost revenue to the city. ``They're talking about $23 million a year and we already are looking at a $50 million deficit,'' Councilwoman Rita Walters Rita Walters (1930-) is currently the commissioner of the Los Angeles Public Library. Prior to this position, she served on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 9th district. During that time, she chaired the Arts, Health & Humanities Committee. said. ``I'm not sure we should go this far.'' Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg Jackie Goldberg (born June 16, 1937) is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly. asked why attorneys would pay $1.7 million less in taxes. ``I don't mind giving tax breaks to industries we want to target,'' Goldberg said. ``My problem is giving a tax break to an industry that is not in critical condition.'' The mayor's proposal seeks to reduce the number of business tax categories from 64 to eight, providing an 8 percent - $23 million - cut in overall business taxes. Riordan says the simplified plan will increase the number of businesses paying taxes. The mayor said his proposal would result in the largest tax decrease in city history. Voter VOTER. One entitled to a vote; an elector. approval on any code changes is needed because of Proposition 218. The plan would exempt businesses with annual revenues of less than $5,000 from paying the city tax, while giving new businesses a one-year tax exemption tax exemption, immunity from the requirement of paying taxes. Federal, state, and usually local law provide exemption from taxation for a wide variety of organizations, usually not-for-profit, such as churches, colleges, universities, health care providers, various . The plan also would increase the maximum amount paid by the film industry to $22,370 for major productions. By increasing the rate of compliance, the mayor predicts that the city would make up the lost revenue. City Clerk In the United States, a City Clerk is an elected or appointed official who is responsible as the official keeper of the municipal records. In some places, the Clerk may be known as the "Village Clerk" or "Town Clerk". Mike Carey raised the question of how much it would simplify the tax code. ``It would affect about 20 percent of the businesses,'' Carey said. ``The others would still have to select a category in which they pay taxes.'' Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton said the City Attorney's CERTIFICATE, ATTORNEY'S, Practice, English law. By statute 37 Geo. III., c. 90, s. 26, 28, attorneys are required to deliver to the commissioners of stamp duties, a paper or note in writing, containing the name and usual place of residence of such person, and thereupon, on paying certain Office would have to examine the proposal for fairness, citing different tax rates for auto repair shops as opposed to gasoline gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and "cracking" of petroleum, but also obtained from natural gas, by stations. ``There are some fundamental issues that have to be addressed before an ordinance A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been is drafted,'' Deaton said. The council only has until Feb. 17 to give instructions to the City Attorney's Office. |
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