Santa Rosa council approves sending hotel, business tax measures to November ballot

The Santa Rosa City Council has agreed to let voters decide the fate of a proposed update to the city’s business license tax that is expected to generate about $3 million annually.

The measure — one of two recommended tax increases city leaders OK’d for November’s ballot during Tuesday night’s council session — would increase the maximum tax charged to nearly 13,000 businesses in the city to $10,000 and would institute a new tiered-base tax structure. Taxes would be adjusted annually for inflation to ensure more gradual increases over time.

This proposal is drastically different from the initial plan staff presented to council last month, which eliminated the existing $3,000 cap in addition to a tax rate increase.

The highest-grossing companies could’ve seen their tax liabilities jump sharply to $100,000 or more under that proposal, which business groups said was too aggressive and would push some businesses out of the city.




https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-tax-november-election/