Taxes Increased
By Natalia Pavlina
Those of you with the tendency to count your pennies may have noticed a small decrease in the amount in your wallets during this last week and a half. Don't be alarmed, you're not going insane, nor are you being robbed.
This proposition was designed to prevent the state of California from continuing budget cuts to schools and the education system.
Effective as of April 1, Santa Clara County has raised its sales taxes by an eighth of a cent, from 8.875 percent to 9 percent, and Santa Clara is not alone. More than 20 cities and counties across California have decided to increase their sales taxes anywhere from a quarter to a half-cent on every dollar of sales, seeking to boost revenues.
Many notable cities and homes of Santa Clara students such as Sacramento, Capitola, Carmel and Culver City, have joined the initiative. The three counties that have decided to adopt a higher tax rate are Marin County, San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.
Since the recent decision to raise sales taxes around the area, the cities with the highest sales tax rate (9.5 percent) are now the Bay Area's Albany, Moraga, Orinda and Half Moon Bay. Campbell, a city not too far from Santa Clara, has also raised their sales tax rate to 9 percent.
There are many elements that factor into calculating sales tax. Campbell's tax rate consists of four components: the statewide sales tax rate, county transit and transportation (for example, a BART-operating and maintenance tax), Campbell's local sales tax rate and the new county retail transactions tax.
California already has the nations highest sales tax rate at 7.5 percent, which is much higher than the second highest recorded state tax (7 percent). In fact, this past January, statewide sales tax increased 0.25 percent after the approval of Proposition 30.
The tax increase will go to the State Education Protection Account and will support school districts, county offices of education, charter schools and community college districts. The higher tax rate will apply for four years.
The small percentage change may not seem like much, but the results are expected to prove very incremental. Sacramento, California's capitol city, will rack up an extra $28 million for just a 0.5 percent change in rates. Though it is unlikely that a 0.125 percent will reap the same results, the change will still benefit the county significantly.
Contact Natalia Pavlina at npavlina@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.