Local Leaders Use Sales Tax Increases to Pay for Essential Projects

Over a year, one pot hole can turn into 20, and what was once a backburner project is now a costly public works road repair. With rising costs from pensions and other liabilities, many municipalities are having a hard time paying for these types of small, essential projects, that often get shelved for more pressing issues.

To address these needs, the City of Compton is weighing out how to use a 1% sales tax increase residents approved last year. Measure P, a 1% sales tax increase that was passed by more than 50% of Compton voters, will push local sales tax revenue up to $7 million annually. Funding from the measure will pay for long-overdue road and sidewalk repairs, enhanced street lighting, and hire more emergency response personnel.  

“What we see is that when municipalities are transparent with their residents and business community, and the need is there, revenue enhancement strategies like tax increases and stronger auditing standards are more widely accepted,” said Doug Jensen, senior vice president of MuniServices.

Residents in the City of Lynwood also passed a similar sales tax increase last year. Measure PS raised the City’s sales tax rate by 1%, pushing the overall sales tax rate up to 10%. It is expected to raise $4.5 million annually over the next 10 years, when it will expire at the end of 2026. It was widely approved and was passed by more than 75% of voters.

“Local government is hurting. Plain and simple,” said Jensen. “We are at the point where some cities have made hard decisions and increased service fees or put sales tax increases on their ballots in order to pay for needed projects that have been put on hold for too long.”

Doug and his team are intimately familiar with the revenue problems cities and counties face. MuniServices is one of the nation’s leading municipal tax auditors, was has long served the cities of Compton and Lynwood to audit local sales taxes for underreported. With the new sales taxes in place, MuniServices will review new revenue to ensure the correct amounts are being collected.

“The reality it, it’s not about getting residents and businesses to pay for frivolous things,” said Jensen. “It’s about paying for the pot hole that needs to be fixed, or putting an additional ambulance team on duty. These are things that are easy to put off, but add up and negatively impact communities over the long run.”

MuniServices is a leading provider of revenue recovery services. With over 900 cities, counties, special districts, and states as clients, MuniServices is the only firm in California and throughout the United States to offer proprietary revenue recovery, audit and administration services encompassing all general sources of municipal tax revenue. Learn more at muniservices.com.