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Palm Springs Shoppers Brace for Sales Tax Increase
Tourists and residents of Palm Springs will get ready to pay more for their goods starting April 1st.
In November Palm Springs voter agreed to increase their sales tax by half a percent, going from 8.75% to 9.25% sales, but for Los Angeles visitors, Joe Corral and Steve Niarhos, the tax hike will not stop them from visiting desert for shopping.
Niarhos said, “Half-off in a lot of stores, some of the shirts we buy here, in West L.A. it would be double.”
The couple of Angelinos are used to paying at least 9.5% sales tax on their purchases. They said even with the local tax hike they still get a better price on their goods in the desert.
“When you live in California, especially Southern California you learn to have more expensive prices,” Corral said.
And even though tourists may not notice the difference, a Palm Springs small business owner said his customers will see the change.
Gregory Goodman owns My Little Flower Shop in Palm Springs, and he is opposed to the tax increase, “I think it’s going to be really bad for business, I mean that’s a lot more money they are taxing.”
His customers can buy as small as a flower arrangement, or hire Goodman to plan their entire wedding, where a minor tax increase can be more noticeable.
Goodman said, “Everybody is so budget minded right now, they want to stay in budget and any little above that, $50 or $75 can be over budget.”
But not everyone has a budget in mind, Corral and Niarhos said they will continue to visit Palm Springs and shop while at it.
“The sales of the shirt were so great, we didn’t even bother looking at the sales tax,” Niarhos said.
The City of Palm Springs projects a revenue of $7,000,000 annually, with the money going towards additional police officers, improve 911 response times, and address homelessness.
By: NBC Palm Springs
March 30, 2018
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