RUNNER PROPOSAL BACKED; AMENDMENT ADVANCES.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 cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee In the United States government, the Appropriations Committee can refer to either:
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10, written by Lancaster Republican 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. , passed unanimously. No floor vote has been set, but it will likely occur this month. Runner is trying to get the bill through the legislative process in time to put the issue before voters at the November election. ``This constitutional amendment is vital to ensure local governments are protected and tax dollars are spent on goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. , not frivolous bidding wars,'' Runner said. The amendment 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. The bill would thus 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 say. ``Current law is unreasonable, costly and unwieldy, forcing local governments to try to lure auto malls and big-box retailers away from a neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. city or county, even at the cost of taxpayers,'' Runner said. ``This constitutional amendment protects local control while at the same time protecting taxpayers - it's a win-win.'' The cities of Lancaster and Palmdale have talked about entering into a 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 revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. 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 50-50 all sales tax revenue beyond that benchmark. 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 approximately $1 million annually. |
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