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August 4, 2008
Schwarzenegger Proposes Sales Tax Increase
LA County residents have been hearing all about a half-cent sales tax increase that we could be voting on in November at the ballot. It's a big could, depending on a state committee, but if it goes through and passed by voters, Metro would get an extra $30 to $40 billion over the next 30 years for transportation projects ("Subway to the Sea" being one of them). But today, to fix the state deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a one-cent statewide increase that would raise an expected $4 to $5 billion a year, says the Sacramento Bee. The state currently has a $15.2 billion budget deficit. The current statewide sales tax is 6.25% 7.25%, but LA County has local tax additions that bring it up to 8.25%, which would go up to 8.75% if the transit measure were to be passed in November. If both taxes get passed, LA County is looking at a 9.75% sales tax.
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Dear Schwartzkjsflkjdf,
Eat shit & die.
Sincerely,
EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA
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I say fuck it, bite the bullet and pay it off in 3-4 years with a good budget on hand to balance it for the future.
How else are we going to pay for it; currently the best decision is to effect 250k state workers. lets even out the losses to the entire state.
finally, that 9.75% sales tax would do WONDERS for parking and driving in los angeles as people move away.
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I call shenanigans!
This whole impasse is because the dems wanted to raise the sales take and the governator wouldn't.
Maybe we should stop paying everybody in Sacramento until the budget is passed. Suing them didn't help. Making it ILLEGAL to not pass a budget didn't help.
Seriously, our state controller is suing our governor! And our governor is expected to countersue? We are like some insane banana republic drunk on its own meta-power.
A 10 percent sales tax is bullshit. Tourism, indistrial jobs and film-making are moving elsewhere already.
I would happily pay a little more in car registration. Let people who are low-income carless or going green a little break. The state gives us registration refunds instead of using the money to pay down debt. Duh? Anybody? Let's hear one big, collective "DUH!"
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You got it right on the money, Elise. Bring back the car tax which Schwarzenegger swore off within days of getting into office.
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Ya gotta remember the car registration deali-o was a campaign promise, and you know how a "non-politician" politician like Arnie doesn't want to come off looking like a politician and break his promise.
Is everyone here familiar with the "sloop hole" sales tax avoidance scheme?
For those who aren't; We common folk have to pay sales tax if we buy a "non essential" item like a pair of shoes or underwear. However rich people can avoid paying sales tax on rich people toys like yacths, aircraft, RVs.
The Sacto Repubs defend this "sloop hole" fiercely, claiming that wealthy would stop buying toys if they had to pay sales tax on them. This would put the manufacturers those toys out of business, and many working joes out of work.
There's also an oil production tax that most states levy against oil companies that pump oil out from underneath their state. California doesn't. Strange that we also have to pay some of the highest prices in the country for gasoline.
I would venture to guess that there's lots of ways to help close that budget gap, but unfortunately these sources of revenue are not even under consideration.
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If Arnie got his way, that would be a big blow to to the half-cent increase proposal I wowuld imagine. Thus being a big blow to metro and future subway development which would be dissapointing. Hopefully they will explore other options here, or this never gains any traction.