Flat-Rate Tax for Businesses Proposed

The county should charge a flat rate for a business license tax instead of basing the fee on annual gross income, the head of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. told the County Board of Supervisors.

Jere Robings, executive director of the association, said Tuesday that by charging a flat rate, the county can eliminate the need to hire extra employees to collect income records and calculate the fee.

The Board of Supervisors last week tentatively approved the license tax for businesses in the county’s unincorporated areas. The final hearing on the tax will be March 12.

Under the proposal, about 3,000 businesses would be taxed at the rate of 50 cents to $1.50 per $1,000 of gross income, depending on the type of business and profit margin it generates.

County Chief Administrator Richard Wittenberg said Robings’ suggestion of a flat rate will be considered when the tax receives final consideration. “We are exploring all possibilities,” he said.

Mary Berrington, a spokeswoman for a group of residents and agricultural landowners in the east Santa Clara Valley, said businesses that have suffered under the drought and a recent freeze would be hard hit by the new fee.

“I oppose the whole thing on principle,” she said.