Increased State Sales Tax Causing Headache

Inglewood // community // EDIT

The state of California has been in a terrible financial position for the last couple of years, something that every one living in the state (myself included) knows all too well. Education is losing money, health care is losing money, people have lost jobs at an alarming rate…and still, I highly doubt have seen the worst of our troubles. I’m sure the recent rise in state and local taxes will take all of our issues to a new level. It’s difficult enough to get by on what little money is accessible with so little work available, so having to live with another round of tax increases is not at all easy. The State Board of Equalization website released a business article listing all current sales taxes within California, numbers that are rather steeper than what we’re used to. Los Angeles County is home to the two cities with the highest sales tax in the state: 10.25%, shared by Pico Rivera and South Gate. At least 8 cities and Alameda County share the second highest tax level in California: 9.75%. One of these 8 cities is my hometown of Inglewood, CA.

Inglewood has already been taken hits to its pocket since the Lakers relocated from the Forum to the Staples Center in Downtown L.A. With Hollywood Park Casino & Racetrack bringing in lower-than-projected revenue in the past few years, there have been talks for years about tearing the building down and constructing mixed-home residences in its place. Inglewood is still considered a suburb of Los Angeles, which is evidenced by the number of homes and apartments that populate the city…which are filled to the brim with thousands of people per square mile. While one business in Tustin, The Lost Bean, decided to pay the extra 1% tax increase for their customers as soon as the tax increase became mandatory in April.

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A majority of the businesses in Inglewood don’t have the ability to pay the tax for people who purchase products from them every day. If business owners here did decide to do it, they would run the risk of losing money needed to keep their business afloat very quickly. With an unemployment rate of 14.2% over the state’s 11.2%, the new taxes are certain to cause more headaches for residents before they bring relief to the state.