REVENUE BILL COULD FIND BALLOT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

A proposed constitutional amendment that would make it easier for cities and counties to share sales tax revenue will likely be approved in time to make the November ballot, its author said.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10, written by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, must be signed into law before Aug. 27 in order to make the Nov. 3 ballot. ACA 10 will be heard next by the Senate Appropriations Committee and then will go to a vote on the Senate floor.

``We're feeling pretty good about this,'' Runner said. ``There is probably enough time for us to successfully maneuver the bill through the Legislature.''

The amendment would allow cities and counties to enter into tax-sharing agreements by a two-thirds vote of their governing boards. State law now requires a vote by residents.

The bill would allow communities to split revenue on a case-by-case basis. Existing law makes that impractical because of the public vote requirement, supporters of the bill said.

``The exploitation of taxpayers and local governments by some large retailers and auto malls must stop,'' Runner said. ``If this constitutional amendment is ratified by voters, cities and counties can work together for the best interest of the community instead of undercutting each other to bring in sales revenue.''

The cities of Lancaster and Palmdale have talked about entering into a sales tax revenue-sharing agreement as a way to discourage the bidding wars that break out in attracting big retail companies. However, the cities cannot agree on how to make such an agreement work.

Lancaster officials had proposed setting a certain year's tax revenue as a benchmark, then having the cities split equally all sales tax revenue beyond that.

That proposal was deemed unacceptable by Palmdale officials because Palmdale receives about $2 million less in sales tax revenue than Lancaster. A 50-50 split after a certain benchmark would mean Palmdale would never catch up to Lancaster in sales tax revenue.

A proposal by Palmdale to split sales tax on a per-capita basis drew a rebuke from Lancaster officials. They said it would result in Lancaster giving Palmdale about $1 million annually.

Among the supporters of ACA 10 are the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.