Santa Paula sees increases in sales, secured property tax revenues
June 03, 2011
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
After years of recession driven dwindling coffers, California’s taxable sales were up 8.75 percent for the first quarter of the year.
But at the end of the third quarter Santa Paula is showing an approximately 18 percent increase in its cut of retail, food and other sales revenues and an increase in secured property taxes.
According to Santa Paula City Treasurer Sandy Easley, the interim finance director, there’s still more money on its way to city coffers. In April 2010 the city had received $782,830 total for the third quarter of the year. Easley said this April the city has booked sales tax revenue of $925,230, with another quarter of collections yet to come.
“I’ve estimated - maybe hoping - by the end of this fiscal year we’ll be about $200,000 higher” than last fiscal year, which for the city runs July 1 through June 30. So far, there is $142,400 more collected to date, an 18 percent increase in sales tax revenue. Easley said the city sales tax payments from the state are received almost monthly, payments that are estimated with actual amounts settled later.
The city is also seeing an increase in secured property tax revenue. “Last year we had a total of $2.1 million in secured property tax” income, but so far this fiscal year, Easley said, the city has collected $2.2 million through the two major payments, an eight percent increase. Easley believes the figure will increase slightly due to “stragglers... we usually have a few” that pay their taxes to the county late, “but we’re already up over last year” in secured property tax revenue.
By the time everyone takes their cut, Santa Paula receives approximately 1 cent back on every dollar spent in the city for taxable goods and services. Property tax has returns about 12 times higher, but Santa Paula has a Catch 22 situation with many of its older homes that have not changed hands since about 1978, properties taxed under strict Proposition 13 guidelines.
Easley said the boosted revenue from sales and property taxes would be factored into the first draft of the FY 2011-2012 budget to be presented to the council at Monday’s meeting.
