La Mesa Today - Community Website & Online Newspaper
Love where you live!
City Lowers Size Of State Tax Bite
LA MESA -- City of La Mesa finance officials spent much of the last 48 hours in continual negotiations with state officials trying to clarify exactly how much money the state is owed from local tax coffers.
David Witt, La Mesa's city manager, said those negotiations led the city to recalculate the massive payment the state was claiming as the result in shifts in state laws governing local redevelopment districts.
"We now believe the payment to the state is over $900,000, not the $1.9 million we originally estimated,'' Witt said Thursday evening. "It's been non-stop the last couple days, but I think we have come to a better place.''
Witt said the deviation was due in part to determining at what point these locally collected taxes needed to be handed over to the state. The state's demand letter, which arrived without warning last Friday, sent municipalities throughout the state into frantic work to determine how big a check to write to the state.
Witt said the nearly $1-million has been turned over to the state and negotations will continue to make sure the calculation was correct.
"It is still a big bite out of our reserves,'' Witt said. "It just isn't as big as we first thought. We'll hope this is where it ends up.''
Comment
Comment by helen t. givens on July 13, 2012 at 8:36am La Mesa has a talented, dedicated, hard-working staff. Many criticize without knowing the facts. We are fortunate. And the city council, with all the complaints also works diligently and that is why La Mesa is the fine family city it is!
The Wall Street Journal
Over 50 percent of Americans expect home prices to rise
More than half of Americans now expect the country’s home prices to climb within the next year, illustrating a growing optimism toward the health of the housing industry, according to new data from Fannie Mae. Read the full story.
Los Angeles Times
Some homes are slow to sell even in the hottest markets
With full-fledged sellers’ markets underway in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for six months, 12 months, or more with no takers. Among the reasons: Mispricing, excessive restrictions on access to buyers and agents, failure to clean or make repairs, and a variety of other marketing bungles. Read the full story.
The Wall Street Journal
Principal forgiveness could reduce costs for taxpayers
Allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce loan balances for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth could ultimately reduce mortgage defaults and save the government money, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. Read the full story.
Patti Serrano posted a statusPatti Serrano updated an event
© 2013 Created by La Mesa Today.
You need to be a member of La Mesa Today - Community Website & Online Newspaper to add comments!
Join La Mesa Today - Community Website & Online Newspaper