Sacramento Regional Smart Growth Act: Sales Tax Sharing (2002)
Topics: Economic/Small Business | legislation
California. Sample legislation to create a mechanism for cities and towns in the greater Sacramento region ( a six county region) to share sales tax revenue so that it is not all “situs-based” or kept by the community where the sales tax originates. The bill explains that sales tax policy in California has created a “bidding war…caused serious fiscal problems, public service inefficiencies, and has fiscalized land use decisions so that they focus on sales tax generation instead of community land use needs.” This bill allocates “growth revenue” over the base level of sales tax based on each city or county’s share of sales tax generating transactions, its share of population, and its progress towards affordable housing goals. Bill was designed to reduce the “unhealthy competition” between cities for sales tax revenue. A good bill to show lawmakers in any state that lets sales taxes remain at the local level.
