Sales Tax on Jet Fuel

Your assertion that local sales tax revenues generated by the sale of aircraft fuel should remain locally is right on the mark (editorial, Sept 2). Unfortunately, current state Board of Equalization regulations direct these sales tax revenues to the city in which the corporate headquarters of the oil company are located. As a result, San Francisco, which hosts no airport but houses the corporate headquarters for Chevron, receives millions of dollars each year, while the cities that actually support California’s airports get little or nothing.

Since this inequity came to my attention, I have been working to secure a return of these revenues to cities with airports. While I wholeheartedly support Assemblyman Joe Baca’s (D-Rialto) legislative proposal, I have focused my own efforts on persuading Board of Equalization members to revise their regulation. My colleagues and I were successful in having the measure placed on the agenda for the board’s August meeting. Chairman Ernie Dronenberg drafted a narrowly defined proposal that would have returned the jet fuel taxes to cities with airports, leaving all other tax distribution methods intact.

At the August meeting, however, the board voted 3-2 to delay any action until the October meeting, ostensibly to provide staff with additional time to review the proposal. In reality, this was no more than a stall tactic. Despite the delay, the proposal will again be on the board’s agenda in October, giving board members one more opportunity to vote in favor of redistributing these funds.

FRED AGUIAR

Assembly, R-Chino