According to the City of Culver City website:
“Culver City is now at a critical juncture. Unless City revenues are increased, City leaders will need to make further significant cuts to public safety and other essential City services. Measure Y will assist in raising such revenues through a temporary one-half cent sales tax that will generate nearly $8 million annually.”
In other words, if it passes, it will eliminate our structural deficit according to the City.
Sounds like a start. It would mean a half-cent sales tax increase that goes directly to Culver City for 10 years. If Prop. 30 passes, we would have another quarter-cent tax increase statewide, for four years, to fund schools. Culver City’s sales tax would be 9.50 percent.
What assets has Culver City not utilized to generate over $2 million a year since 2010?
Parking.
Will Downtown have $60 million in taxable sales in one year?
If Measure Y passes, $300,000 would be generated from $60 million in sales.
Will Downtown have $30 million in taxable sales in six months?
If Measure Y passes, $150,000 would be generated from $30 million in sales.
The same $150,000 has been lost since the suspension of Downtown extended parking meter hours for the last six months.
Will Downtown have $5,000,000 in taxable sales in one month?
If Measure Y passes, $25,000 would be generated from $5 million in sales.
The same $25,000 per month has been lost since the suspension of extended parking meter hours Downtown six months ago.
A special interest group complained to the city in March about the meter hours. In April, they got the city to cut the meter hours until July 10.
The suspension of extended meter hours was required by resolution to expire on July 10. It has not.
A $100 dinner and drinks would generate 50 cents in Measure Y sales tax. A parking meter generates the same 50 cents in 20 minutes.
Two hours of meter parking generates $3. It would take $600 of dinner and drinks, if Measure Y passes, to make the same $3.
Besides the $300,000 annual extended meter hour revenue, Culver City has had the potential to generate $1.8 million of additional annual revenue from the Downtown parking structures.
Charge market rate for the asset. Chase Bank, across from the Kirk Douglas Theatre, just started charging parking rates (after 6:30 p.m. during the week). They start at $2 for 30 minutes, with a $15 maximum. With all of the city’s free parking meter spots taken up last Sunday, I saw people pay to park in the Chase Bank-owned parking lot, at a Sunday rate of $7 for 90 minutes to walk across the street to Kirk Douglas Theatre.
If the city had acted on the Comprehensive Downtown Parking Study Recommendations, including Parking Structure Rates, Culver Ciity would have had projected revenues for fiscal year 2010-11 of $1.8 million.
Add in the Downtown city meters and the city structures and you get $2.1 million in new revenue for Culver City from just Downtown.
To put it in perspective, it would take $420 million in taxable sales (under Measure Y) in Downtown to generate the same $2.1 million from parking. Does Downtown generate $420 million in taxable sales?
Why is the City asking for increased tax money for 10 years while not fully utilizing the city’s parking assets? It is because the “special interests” have a lot of influence with the City.
Enough influence that the city can ignore $2.1 million in new parking revenue with the majority of revenue coming from non-residents shopping and dining in Culver City. Funny thing is, non-residents are the same people Measure Y money is going to be generated from, according to the city’s Measure Y literature!
The Chamber of Commerce realizes that parking is a City asset. Culver City Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Goran Eriksson said:
“Fees for city parking should be placed in a capital improvement fund for the duration of the (Measure Y) city sales tax to be spent on maintenance of city facilities, such as City Hall, which is reaching its 20-year anniversary and is in need of maintenance.”
I agree.
Mr. Anderson may be contacted at caryanderson@ca.rr.com
