BPR
Two Southern California cities now boast the highest sales tax rates in the entire country, thanks to their own voters’ decision-making.
“Palmdale and Lancaster, located in northern Los Angeles County, raised their rates to 11.25% from 10.25% following voter approval of a 0.75% hike in both cities last year,” according to Bloomberg. “The new rates also include a quarter-cent boost OK’d by county voters in November for homelessness programs.”
“With the increases, the two cities surpass Seattle, which had the highest sales tax rate in the country at 10.35% among cities with more than 100,000 people,” the reporting continues.
Congratulations!?
As seen in the chart below, the sales tax rate went up in numerous California cities on April 1st, especially around the Los Angeles area: more here
Interesting. Where is the MSM gnashing their teeth that this “tariff” against its citizens will cause pain for the middle class etc?
On food and daily consumables the most regressive tax there is. Hey, it’s only poor folks hurt, what they gonna do?
Look at it this way… In California itz called Tithing to Communism.
How strange that they voted for it!
In my 63 years of living I have never voted for a tax but always against them.
10% is a tithe, 11.25% is more than a tithe. The southern Californians are really the ones getting ripped off and to have to pay an added homelessness tax of a quarter of a percent as well is absurd and should be unconstitutional but hey its California californicating their citizens even more. How do average people even afford to live in Cali anymore? And all you assholes in Olympia don’t even think about it up here in Wash. state.
geoff – 10% is the recommended tithe, however you are allowed to tithe more than that. As a tax is a regular occurrence I think it can be considered somewhat like a tithe.
I know that 10% is the recommended tithe and at times I have tithed more than that. However, the govt. is not God, tithing is strictly voluntary (and a gift to God of the first fruits of your labor) while a tax is coercive and not voluntary, you pay it or else.
Any thing over 10 percent is considered an “offering”.
Aww heck, why not just jump to 100%? cmon Cali, you can do it
Politicians, and particularly California politicians, are notorious for identifying “problems” and then asking for a tax increase to rectify those problems. Question: how are you going to fix the homeless problem? Everytime some government agency tries to move the homeless from public spaces, lawsuits ensue. In many areas of the United States we have tried to build housing projects, only to see them turned into crime-ridden hellholes and most of them have been torn down in the interest of public safety. Is the government going to build free housing for the homeless, although building anything in California is a time consuming and expensive proposition? What about people who are working but still struggling to pay for housing – is California going to build or subsidize housing for them as well?
If I were homeless, I would head to California – in SoCal the weather is great, there isn’t much rainfall, and California is very generous with public benefits. But politicians in California have no answer to the homeless problem; one can argue that homelessness was exacerbated by California policies in the first place. The government will use increased tax revenue to fund other projects (just like they did with the gasoline tax increase), or funnel the money to consultants, activists, lobbyists and developers. The state has already blown through hundreds of millions of dollars with regard to homelessness, and the problem in Los Angeles is you still cannot find an overpass under which to pitch your tent.
geoff – However, the govt. is not God
You are absolutely right, but that’s also my point.
Communists abolish religion and want the people to worship the government.
There’s a lot of people in L.A. guv making $750k a year. They gotta get the money somewhere.
A consumption tax applies to everyone. In CA most folks don’t pay an income tax and this is a way to apply taxes to everyone. An argument can be made that the poor spend most of their income, so most of their income is taxed. Rich people spend larger amounts of money, so they pay more in taxes. They may not pay taxes on the same percentage of their income though.
Oh, a VAT is absolutely the worst kind of tax there is and it is far more regressive than a consumption tax.
Not to defend Seattle for previously holding the record, but Washington State does not have an income tax. California does.
And we want to keep it that way in Wash. state.