Sales Tax Income Declines Slightly

SIMI VALLEY —  Sales tax income for the city of Simi Valley fell by nearly 3% in the latest fiscal quarter. But officials said they are not worried because the city still is reaping far more in sales taxes than it was in 1993.

The state Board of Equalization returned more than $1.94 million in sales tax revenue to Simi Valley for the fiscal quarter ending Nov. 12--a 2.9% decrease from the same period in 1994.

But the drop came nowhere near erasing the 11.9% increase in sales tax income that Simi Valley enjoyed in the comparable quarter of 1994--most of which came from a boom in construction spending after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake, officials said.

“What we’re glad about is that [the income] didn’t increase quite as much--we didn’t lose the whole 11 or 12% that it increased last year,” Deputy City Manager Bob Heitzman said Thursday. “We’re still up by something like $200,000 for the quarter over the same quarter in ’93.”

The past fiscal year has brought Simi Valley a growth in sales tax income of nearly 10%, which officials say points to a healthy local economy. What’s more, said Mayor Greg Stratton, new construction of businesses such as the Price Club store will add significantly to Simi Valley’s tax base.