Tax update heads to SB Council

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Following several weeks of tinkering, Santa Barbara city leaders are forwarding a proposed update to the telecommunications section of a city tax from the Ordinance Committee to City Council for a final look.
If approved, the proposal would be put to a vote of the people in November. City officials said changes would bring new telecommunication technology under taxation and prevent the city from losing current levels of funding or facing litigation.

Due to a change in federal tax laws, a $4 million portion of the users utility tax revenue — which funds streets maintenance, public safety, parks maintenance, recreation activities and other services — is in jeopardy of being lost.
By clarifying the ordinance, city officials said the tax will apply to new technologies such as high-speed data links, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and broadband television services, which are not covered by Santa Barbara’s dated tax ordinance, as well as landline telephone and other video services.
“What we don’t want to tax … is the base charge for access to the Internet,” City Finance Director Bob Peirson emphasized.
After adjusting language in the ordinance to make that clear, along with other clarifications, members of the city’s Ordinance Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass the issue to the full council.
Councilmember Grant House commended city staff for working with Cox Communications to clarify issues concerning the proposal. He also requested that the staff report attached to the City Council’s agenda include a short summary in understandable terms to make the proposal clear to members of the public.
“It will be important for those reading the staff report … to know in clear language what we’re taxing and not,” he said.
The topic is expected to come before the full council on June 17. If approved, it would require a simple majority of voters in November to pass.