LA VERNE : City to Loan Auto Dealer $400,000 to Stay Put

La Verne officials have answered Person Ford’s plea for financial assistance by proposing to loan the auto dealer, the city’s largest sales tax producer, $400,000 in exchange for a promise to stay put for five more years.

Under an agreement drafted by city officials, owner Warren Person will not have to pay back the loan if he sells enough cars. To avoid yearly payments on the loan, his business must generate an increased amount of sales tax revenue during each of the five years.

Last April, Person asked the City Council to loan him $500,000 or simply give it to him if his business produced enough sales tax revenue. He said he needed the money to cover operating costs and capital improvements. Without financial help, he told council members, he would have to move his dealership to another city.

The proposed agreement calls for Person to repay the loan with five annual installments of $80,000, plus 5% annual interest. The city would forgive each of the yearly installments if Person’s auto sales produce a minimum--and progressively larger--amount of annual sales tax revenue over the next five years. In the final year of the agreement, Person would need to sell enough cars to generate $300,000 in sales tax revenue for the city.