Truck Dealer to Move From Huntington Park

This financially pressed city has been hit by another setback: A truck dealer that generates more than $200,000 in annual local sales tax revenue has decided to leave town.

The GMC Truck Center will move to Santa Fe Springs Jan. 1 under an agreement signed earlier this month, Lynn Pew, the firm’s general manager, said last week. The firm has conducted business on Alameda Street in Huntington Park since 1964.

The sales tax revenue Huntington Park will lose is a sizable chunk of the city’s $10.6-million general fund budget. Overall, the city will receive about $3.5 million in sales tax revenue this year, said Donald Jeffers, city administrator. The general fund pays for general operating expenses, including employees’ salaries.

“Any time we lose a major auto dealer or truck dealer, it’s a significant loss,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers said he won’t know how much impact the loss will have on the city until the end of June, when final sales tax figures for the current year are available. Last November, the city eliminated 13 positions to reduce spending and offset lagging revenues.

Relocation Site

GMC Truck Center will relocate onto a 10-acre parcel owned by General Motors on Valley View Avenue north of Alondra Boulevard in Santa Fe Springs.

To lure the truck center, the Santa Fe Springs Redevelopment Agency agreed to rebate $1.16 million in sales tax revenue to the dealer during the next five years, said Bob Orpin, director of planning and development for Santa Fe Springs. The agency also will pay 7.5% interest on the unpaid balance, Orpin said.

“Redevelopment was attractive to us for a tax advantage,” Pew said.

Under the agreement, the GMC Truck Center is required to begin operations by next March and remain on the site for 10 years.

Orpin declined to disclose any projected revenue figures, but he said the agency hopes the company will generate $400,000 a year in sales tax revenue.

“We’re in for a long-term benefit, which is the additional sales tax they’ll generate during the 10 years they’ll be there,” Orpin said.

Jeffers declined to release the precise sales tax figures for GMC Truck Center, but he said Huntington Park receives in “excess of $200,000” in annual revenue from the business.

Could Not Match Offer

City officials tried to work out a deal to keep the center in Huntington Park, but the city could not match the offer by Santa Fe Springs, the city administrator said.

“The numbers just didn’t pencil out for us,” Jeffers said.