The City of Monrovia is evaluating a potential local sales tax measure in 2019 to counter planned LA County tax increases and keep more of Monrovia's taxes local.  Come learn key background information for why a proposed tax increase is being considered at this time, how this relates to LA County, and what the City would potentially put those funds towards, if this measure were to be added to the ballot and approved by voters.

Currently, LA County has the highest base sales tax rate in California at 9.5%. And given this high sales tax level, we are in fact close to the local sales tax limit here in LA County. Because of the vagaries of State law, there is only 0.75% of available sales tax capacity remaining. Indeed, LA County is looking to go back out to the voters to ask for additional sales tax increases in 2020 and 2022.

Monrovia has the opportunity to get ahead of this situation by approving a local sales tax measure to protect our resources and keep our money local.

Did you know that 19 of the 88 cities have reached the maximum sales tax rate of 10.25%, and another 9 cities have increased their sales tax rate to 10%?
Those cities that have reached the 10.25% cap do not pay for additional LA County taxes, but are still able to receive the funds collected, despite not paying a single cent into the fund.

Did you know that, on average, Monrovia only gets 10 cents back of every sales tax dollar we contribute to LA County?

Based on LA County’s track record, it’s only a matter of time before they eat up the last 0.75% of local sales tax capacity remaining. And because that is the case, the question we’ll have to answer as a community isn’t whether or not Monrovians want to pay more in sales tax. Instead, the real question we need to address is whether we want to send our money to the County for their use, or if we want to keep those funds here in our City under our own local control.

Here at the City, we are incredibly sensitive to the fact that no one wants to pay more taxes, with the tax burden already being so high here in California. But we also know that LA County is planning these tax increase proposals soon, and the opportunity to keep our money local will not remain an option for too much longer.

Given this set of facts, the City will be exploring the option of putting a sales tax measure on the ballot for our residents to consider in 2019.  This community meeting is to hear from the community to see if a local sales tax measure could be a viable solution for Monrovia. It will be held at the Monrovia Community Center in the Monroe Room on Tuesday, March 26, from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

We hope to see you there!