July 22, 2020
Following the example of other cities in the county, the San Luis Obispo City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to place a 1 percent sales tax increase initiative on the November ballot.
If approved by the majority of voters, the sales tax rate in San Luis Obispo would increase indefinitely from 7.75 percent to 8.75 percent. The initiative would remove the existing half-percent sales tax suspension clause in the city, to be renewed in 2023, and set the city’s sales tax rate at 1.5 percent until voters change it. in the future.
San Luis Obispo faces a budget deficit of $ 8.6 million in the current fiscal year. According to the city staff report, the city’s existing half percent sales tax combined with a 1 percent increase would generate approximately $ 21.6 million annually.
Currently, all seven SLO county cities have sales tax rates of 7.75 percent. Each of the seven cities has adopted its own half-percent sales tax in the past.
In addition to San Luis Obispo, the municipal councils of Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay and Paso Robles voted to place measures to increase the sales tax by 1 percent on the November ballot. The Arroyo Grande city council voted last week against raising the sales tax through a ballot measure in 2020.
