The Yucca Valley Town council heard some good financial news last night. Managing Editor Tami Roleff was at that meeting and files this report…
The Yucca Valley Town Council heard some mostly encouraging news at its meeting Tuesday night. Sales tax revenues, which have been mostly flat in previous years, are expected to increase by about 4.5 percent in the 2014-15 fiscal year, and by 5.5 percent the next year after that. The expected increase is due to new retail stores in Yucca Valley, such as Tractor Supply, Marshall’s, Petco, and Ross. In addition, property taxes are projected to increase by 3.5 and 2.5 percent over the next two fiscal years. Council member Bob Leone had a suggestion for another way to increase revenue for the Town: the Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT, charged on hotel rooms. “It’s not going to affect the people in town; it’s a tourism tax. We are the lowest community in the entire area. Nobody’s got 7 percent tax on the TOT. That should be something we should look into and move forward in an effort to bring it up to the current standard of other communities.”
The Council also heard about road maintenance, in which 7.4 miles of Joshua Drive and Joshua Lane would receive slurry seal and cape seal. The Council authorized the project to go out to bid, with an awarding of the estimated $550,000 contract expected in June.
