Budget Crunch Puts Focus on Sales Taxes

Baldwin Park city and business leaders will meet this week to discuss ways to boost sales tax revenues.

The focus of “Business and the Budget” is to find ways to offset anticipated losses in property tax reserves, which the state is expected to tap to help offset its deficit. The meeting will be at 8 a.m. Tuesday in the Baldwin Park Community Center,

All cities will be losing portions of their property tax base to the state in the 1993-94 budget year, but in the case of Baldwin Park--where sales tax revenues are particularly meager--the loss will be sharply felt, City Manager Donald Penman said.

The state is expected to collect $401,000 of the money, nearly 25% of the city’s expected property tax revenues, he said. Property taxes make up 16% of the city’s general fund.

“We’ve got a lot of people but not much of a tax base,” Penman said.

The meeting is geared to involve businesses in the budget process, and respond to businesses’ concerns.

In turn, Penman hopes, the city can prevent businesses from leaving, and instead encourage them to lure other businesses into Baldwin Park.