CALABASAS : Sales-Tax Revenues Slide in 1st Quarter

The city of Calabasas’ sales tax revenues dropped almost 13.6% over the first quarter of this year, reversing a 2.9% increase in the last quarter of 1993, according to city records.

The city took in about $272,000 in sales taxes during the first three months of 1994, said City Manager Charles Cate. That’s down from about $315,000 for the same period in 1993.

“That’s a matter of some concern,” Cate said. “We’ll be monitoring the situation.”

Asked if he believes the decline signals a downward trend, Cate answered that he hopes it’s “an anomaly” caused by the Northridge earthquake.

He said he is waiting to see figures from the second quarter of this year, which could show a rebound. Those figures, he said, will be available next month.

Much of the decline in first-quarter revenues is due to lagging auto sales, Cate said. Auto sales account for 30% of the city’s total sales tax revenues.

Mike Porro, general manager of an Acura dealership on Calabasas Road, said business has dropped about 50% since construction began last December on the Ventura Freeway off-ramp to Parkway Calabasas.

Part of the problem is that motorists on the freeway don’t see dealership because their view is blocked by a retaining wall, said Porro. A screen installed atop the retaining wall to deflect the glare of headlights has made matters worse, he said.

Cate said the city is working with Caltrans and the dealership to resolve the problem. The city, he said, has hired a private contractor to lower the glare screen to make the dealership more visible.

Cate said the city is bracing for the effects of the planned departure of Lockheed Corp., possibly as early as January. The firm pays about $20,000 annually in utility taxes, but of greater concern is a projected decline in hotel bed taxes, Cate said.

The city’s two hotels pay about $400,000 annually in bed taxes, a figure that will decline significantly if Lockheed leaves, Cate said.