L.A. exempts car dealers
Jobs, more money in city coffers could result
In an effort to attract new car dealerships to Los Angeles and increase sales tax revenue to pay for public services, the City Council voted Tuesday to eliminate a business tax on new car sales.
City officials say the city’s business tax, which brings in about $4 million per year, is the main reason 95 car dealerships moved out of the city over the last 25 years.
The council voted 12-0 in favor of the plan by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and carried in the council by Mitchell Englander and Eric Garcetti.
The flight of car dealerships caused the city to lose out on about $60 million per year in sales tax revenue, Englander said.
There are an estimated 52 new car dealers in the city today that generate about $32 million in sales tax revenue annually, according to the mayor’s office.
“For too long, Los Angeles’ business tax has driven auto dealers outside the city limits. We are finally reforming the way we tax auto dealers so that we can bring more jobs and more sales tax to our city,” Villaraigosa said in a statement released after the vote.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to highlight his eight years in office — particularly in the areas of public safety, education, business, transportation and the environment — when he delivers his final “state of the city” address this afternoon.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be joined today by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., in a discussion at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the challenges of urban education reform.
Villaraigosa will also be honored at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ 2013 Education Summit for championing education reform. Although the mayor of Los Angeles has no formal role in education, Villaraigosa has made education one of his priorities since taking office in 2005.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Democratic Party endorsed Assemblyman Warren Furutani for the 15th District City Council seat vacated by Janice Hahn.
Furutani “has led the fight for quality schools, better job training programs and healthier neighborhoods,” county party chair Eric Bauman said in a statement released by Furutani’s campaign.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The City Council voted unanimously to approve Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s choice to lead the embattled city Department of Transportation.
Villaraigosa nominated Jaime de la Vega, one of his top deputies, to take over the department, which was the subject of scathing audits and embarrassing headlines throughout April and May.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The mayors of California's largest cities, including Los Angeles, will meet with Gov. Jerry Brown today to ask him to find another way of balancing the state's budget without eliminating municipal redevelopment agencies and enterprise zones.
"I understand and respect the daunting fiscal challenge facing the governor and Legislature, and want to help craft an alternative that protects economic development for our communities most desperate for jobs,'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
