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CC 2024-05-14 Items Rec'd at Mtg. 4 ec\\ 12_ct izq Decrease the Sales Tax! In January of•2021 the sales tax we paid on every dollar was 7.75 cents. The total inflation from January of 2021 to January of 2024, just three years, was 20.4%. Therefore today we pay over $1.20 for the same purchase. When we multiply the $1.20 by our 7.75% sales tax we get a sales tax of 9.3 cents compared to the 7.75 cents we paid in 2021. That's an increase in the sales tax of over 1.5 percent. So, in addition to a 20% inflation increase we are now paying an additional 1.5% in sales tax. And Arroyo Grande wants another 1% increase in sales tax. And that is not the end of the story. Some of our elected representatives plan to increase the sales tax for our entire county by another 0.5% for transportation projects. Additionally, the Lucia Mar USD wants to increase the assessed valuation of property owners. This is Socialism! The Arroyo Grande flyer claims that a 1% increase in sales tax will generate about $6 million per year. Therefore, because of inflation, our 7.75% sales tax will be generating in 2024 an additional $9 million compared to three years ago. And tax revenues will continue to increase as inflation increases. I recommend a decrease of the sales tax to offset the adverse effects of inflation. We need city leadership who will work for all members of our community, especially those working from paycheck to paycheck. Jon Hoffmann jhoffman@calpoly.edu