No tax allocations for you! The California State Board of Equalization announced on June 30 that this month’s sales tax allocations to local governments won’t increase by a previously anticipated 5.7 percent because of a decline in cash receipts for the 2010 second quarter compared to last year’s receipts. The board makes monthly allocations to more than 750 local jurisdictions based on a formula that includes historical allocations, growth factor adjustments, transfers and audits, and actual cash receipts. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008, the board reduced advance payments to local taxing jurisdictions due to an unprecedented drop in taxable sales resulting from the recession. While there are indicators that taxable sales are beginning to recover from the recession, the board said in a press release, it’s not reflected in the most recent cash receipts data available. The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. It collects more than $48 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit taxes.ca.gov
This article appears in Jul 8-15, 2010.