COUNCILMAN JOINS SALES TAX FEUD; SINGER OFFERS PER-CAPITA REVENUE-SHARING PLAN.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer With the last effort at easing the Palmdale-Lancaster rivalry over attracting new businesses at an impasse, Councilman Michael Singer is entering the 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-sharing fray, offering his own plan for the cities to consider. Singer's proposal is that the cities share such revenue on a per-capita basis for projects that receive any special incentives or considerations from either or both of the cities. The proposal would affect deals struck after Oct. 1. ``If a sales tax generator gets special consideration, then the revenue is split between the two cities,'' he said. ``If you know you have to share, the cities will work together.'' Singer's proposal is coming at a time when the last effort, launched in August, is at an impasse. ``We had one meeting with (Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford) and had the promise of more meetings, but they were canceled,'' Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts Frank Roberts may refer to:
The last proposal called for picking a certain year's tax revenue as a benchmark, then having the cities split sales tax 50-50 for revenue beyond the benchmark. That proposal is unacceptable to Palmdale officials because Palmdale receives about $2 million less in sales tax revenue than Lancaster. ``That would mean Palmdale would never be able to catch up in sales tax revenue with Lancaster,'' Ledford said. The intent of sharing sales tax revenue is to reduce the incentive for one city to try to outbid out·bid tr.v. out·bid, out·bid·den or out·bid, out·bid·ding, out·bids To bid higher than: We outbid our rivals at the auction. the other - or for a business to play one city against the other - to bring in a big-chain store, auto dealer or other major sales tax generator. Offerings have included waiving development fees, providing land free or at a reduced price, or building roads and laying utilities at taxpayer expense. In the late 1980s, each city tried to entice 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. and shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into developers to build the Antelope Valley's first enclosed shopping mall. Palmdale succeeded, drawing Sears and J.C. Penney department stores out of Lancaster with the opening in September 1990 of the Antelope Valley Mall The Antelope Valley Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Palmdale, California. Opened in September, 1990, its buildings take up around 1 million square feet (90,000 m²). Its physical main building, parking lots, and ring road businesses encompass an area a bit less than 0. . The cities also built competing auto malls, with tax dollars helping to pay costs. In July, Ledford presented his City Council with a resolution calling for the cities to prepare a ballot measure that would have the two cities share sales tax revenue on a per-capita basis. That proposal drew a rebuke from Lancaster officials - who said it would result in Lancaster giving Palmdale approximately $1 million annually - and was shelved by the Palmdale City Council. Singer's proposal is scheduled to be discussed at the Lancaster City Council's meeting on Tuesday. Singer and Ledford are planning to meet next week to discuss the proposal. While the cities discuss the concept, they also will be keeping their eyes on Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10, a bill by Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952 in Scotia, New York) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. , R-Lancaster, aimed at making it easier for cities to enact sales tax-sharing agreements on a case-by-case basis. ACA ACA - Application Control Architecture 10 would allow cities and counties to enter into tax-sharing agreements by a two-thirds vote of their governing boards Noun 1. governing board - a board that manages the affairs of an institution board - a committee having supervisory powers; "the board has seven members" . State law now requires a vote by residents. Annual taxable sales in millions YEAR PALMDALE LANCASTER 1987 $2.0 $7.5 1988 $2.4 $8.1 1989 $3.1 $9.5 1990 $3.8 $11.1 1991 $4.5 $9.7 1992 $5.7 $8.8 1993 $6.9 $8.4 1994 $7.0 $8.9 1995 $7.4 $9.3 1996 $7.6$9.7 SOURCE: The cities of Palmdale and Lancaster CAPTION(S): Chart Chart: Annual taxable sales in millions (see text) |
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