LA PALMA : City Council Studies Utility Tax Proposal
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A reluctant City Council has begun to consider enacting a local utility tax in an effort to protect the municipal budget from state funding cuts like those imposed by the Legislature last summer.
The council began discussing the tax during a special meeting this week and agreed to continue the debate during its regular session Tuesday.
City Manager Pamela Gibson has recommended that the City Council consider enacting a tax on utilities such as electric, telephone and cable television service.
Gibson recommended that the city not start collecting the tax until Jan. 1, 1995, or later if the City Council at that time decides the money isn’t needed. The tax would cost residents between $5 and $10 monthly, depending on how much the council believes is needed.
Although his colleagues do not like the idea of creating a new tax, Councilman Keith Nelson said the council should seriously consider it in case the city’s budget is cut again next year by a state Legislature trying to balance its books. The alternative would be to cut services, he said.
La Palma lost about $360,000 in state funds in state budget cuts.
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