mltc10 18While the Town of Mammoth Lakes struggles over a kind of surgical reduction of its government structure, the city of most of Mammoth’s customers – Los Angeles – prepares four possible tax hike measures for the March ballot.

After Town of Mammoth officials called for severe cuts in the police department and other employee and facility cuts, the discussion of new taxes came up. At the last Town Council meeting officials heard from some citizens that they want a higher sales tax, lift ticket tax and use of already approved tax money to help hold together the town’s services.

Judging from news in the Los Angeles Times, southland skiers and visitors would likely not even blink at higher taxes in Mammoth. If the March tax hike passes, LA’s sales tax would go up from 8.75% to 9.25%. Mammoth’s current sales tax stands at 7.75%.

On this week’s ballot, Los Angelenos will vote on a county sales tax to pay for public transit. In March, LA may also vote for a higher property tax, higher levies on parking lots and increased taxes on real estate sales. LA officials want to avoid more cuts in parks, police, fire and other services. Sounds like a familiar scenario.

At Wednesday night’s Mammoth Town Council meeting, officials will hold a workshop with the Planning Commission to talk about incentive zoning and transient rentals in single family zones. This idea would raise money for the Town General Fund which is 60% funded by TOT.

Wednesday’s Council meeting also includes as the last item more discussion about Town re-structuring to pay off its debts. The item also includes responses to questions and results of the online survey. Some Council deliberations will take place at this meeting with a vote on restructuring currently scheduled for December 5th. Officials will likely discuss cuts, new and old taxes. The regular meeting starts at 6pm in Suite Z.

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