Markey to Serve on Cities League Technology Panel

Councilman Mike Markey has been appointed to the National League of Cities’ Information Technology and Communications Policy Committee.

Officials said that could be important because sales tax is the city’s biggest revenue source, accounting for about $19 million--or 39%--of the $48 million expected in general fund revenue over the next two fiscal years.

Congress is considering a bill that could restrict sales tax on the Internet, and some believe more people will be apt to make purchases by computer if that measure succeeds.

Such a decision could diminish sales tax revenue for cities like Thousand Oaks, which in turn would mean less money for such city services as police and libraries for residents, city officials say.

E-commerce is one of the committee’s main issues, and when Markey meets with the group for the first time in March in Washington, D.C., he will lobby Congress to reconsider passing such a bill.

“I’ve been pretty active in Internet stuff for the last couple of years,” Markey said. “I’m going to bring my knowledge coming from a predominantly sales tax revenue city. That’s important. I don’t think people really realize what the direct impacts are on cities like ours. For cities like ours, it’s a major impact.”

Of the 7 1/4 cents per dollar the county receives in sales tax, Thousand Oaks gets about a penny, said Gary Wartik, the city’s manager of economic development.

Congress had passed a bill to restrict Internet sales tax for a three-year period, but that time has expired.

For city officials, Markey’s position on the committee is nothing but positive. Markey already has committee experience on a state level, having served on the California League of Cities’ Employee Relations Committee for more than four years.

“He can bring real experiences and real needs and issues related to the needs of cities of our size and composition to the policy process,” Mayor Dennis Gillette said.