While the legislators are getting paid again, California's budget wrangling is not yet over. Or, more properly, the dominoes are now falling. Yesterday, I mentioned that we would likely see some local sales taxes appearing on budgets soon. And, well, it didn't take long for that to happen:
But San Francisco voters might be asked on Nov. 1 to enact a local half-percent sales tax on April 1. The half percent raises the sales tax to 9 percent, still cheaper than consumers are paying until July 1. However, the benefit is that San Francisco retains all the money raised by the hike.
Mayor Ed Lee, who is proposing the increase, says the half-cent tax would generate about $60 million annually for The City's coffers and be used to pay for rising costs of police and firefighter salaries, as well as public health and social services. (SF Examiner)
The measure would void itself if the state sales tax were increased again, and then sunset in 2022. However, given the Republican obstinance over revenue, a legislative sales tax increase seems unlikely. In San Francisco, this stands a decent shot of passing, but the 2/3 vote requirement on the November ballot still puts a high hurdle. However, as of right now, it looks like there will be near universal support for the measure from elected officials in SF.
The bigger question is whether other municipalities will be able to accomplish this. Certainly in some of the redder areas, this is pretty much off the table. But as local budgets start bleeding a little bit more, don't be surprised to see more of these in 2012. |
