Camarillo’s Business Boom Puts Cash in City Coffers

When the latest sales tax numbers came in from Sacramento, city officials were expecting good news.

But not many anticipated the dramatic rise that took place between the second quarter of 1994 and the second quarter of 1995.

State figures show that Camarillo earned nearly 25% more in sales taxes this past spring than in the same period a year ago. The city collected almost $1.2 million over the three months ending June 30, the latest period for which statistics are available.

“I hope it’s an indication of an improved economy, but I don’t have a crystal ball,” said Anita Bingham, the city’s finance director. “All the experts have been saying that we are in recovery.”

The numbers are important to Camarillo because the city of 56,000 assessed no property taxes prior to Proposition 13, the 1978 referendum that limited the amount cities could levy.

Camarillo now gets a smaller share of local property taxes than most other cities in the county and is more dependent on sales tax revenue, Bingham said.

Two new multiplex cinemas and the Camarillo Factory Stores all opened within the past year and contributed to the striking rise in sales tax revenues.

But Bingham and others say those new businesses are not solely responsible for the jump.

“We had a huge increase in the business-to-business sector,” Bingham said, referring to local companies that sell to other Camarillo firms. “And there was quite an increase in the light-industrial area, the people that do manufacturing in the community.

“Auto sales were up and there were some airplane sales too,” she said.

Officials at the Camarillo Factory Stores mall, however, are happy to take a good share of the credit.

“It’s the high-quality tenants and the names we have,” said Terri Cameron, general manager of the center, which opened in February and added 14 new stores last month.

“There is value along with the higher-quality merchandise,” Cameron said. “That’s our attraction--people get bargains here. I’m positive we’ve had some sort of influence on sales taxes here.”

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Many of the thousands of shoppers inspecting the goods at Camarillo Factory Stores come from far outside city limits to spend their money.

“You find nice things that are cheaper,” said Jean Ramirez, who last week drove from her San Fernando Valley home to shop at Camarillo’s newest outdoor mall.

“In the Valley, we have to go to a sale to find prices that are comparable,” she said.

Charles Swift agreed.

“There are certainly better prices than in West L.A. because they don’t have the overhead,” said Swift, sipping a cappuccino outside a swanky designer-clothing outlet shop.

Competition for the limited retail dollars in Ventura County has been fierce for years. Oxnard, for example, scrambled to open its factory outlet months before Camarillo.

But Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez is not worried about residents from his city choosing to shop elsewhere.

Sales tax revenue in Oxnard climbed from $3.05 million in the second quarter of 1994 to $3.23 million over the same three months of this year, a 5.8% increase, according to the city finance department.

“All of the cities are after the same thing,” Lopez said. “Since Proposition 13, probably the only way that cities can attract revenue, other than what’s given to us, is the sales tax.

“It’s kind of a dog-eat-dog situation.”

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Meanwhile, Camarillo’s retail future looks even more promising.

A huge Target store, a restaurant and specialty shops are all scheduled to open next year as the Camarillo Town Center, the city’s latest retail mega-development.

“The staff’s attitude toward business is to make them feel welcome,” Camarillo Councilman Ken Gose said.

“They’ve tried to help every way they can to improve business,” he said. “And all of those things working together seem to have caused more money to be spent here.”