Perris voters this November will decide the fate of Measure C, a business license tax that aims to generate revenue from warehouses. Proponents of the measure claim it will help pay for emergency services and infrastructure improvements.
In July, the Perris City Council unanimously voted to approve placing Measure C on the ballot for the upcoming election. The measure proposes a business license tax of up to 10 cents per square foot of area of warehouses and industrial facilities. The tax would adjust for inflation annually and with a council super majority, it could be reduced.
City officials shared during a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday that the measure would only apply to about 30 million square feet of non e-commerce buildings including distribution facilities, industrial businesses and truck yards over 50,000 square feet with large truck activity.
Ryder Todd Smith, the president of marketing firm Tripepi Smith, presented at Wednesday’s information session on behalf of the city. He said the tax is structured as a business activity tax, rather than a property tax.
“It’s based upon the nature of the activity taking place within the building that is being taxed, and the square footage,” Smith said.
City officials estimated the measure could raise over $2.5 million in revenue for the city of Perris.
Smith said 100% of the proceeds would be deposited into the city’s general fund.
“The funds can be used for anything that's a lawful purpose of the city,” Smith said. “That’s typically going to be your 911 response services, fire and police, repairing streets and potholes, improving public safety and retaining small businesses.”
According to a Perris budget presentation, the city has been facing increased fiscal challenges since earlier this year when the state's Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee reduced some of the e-commerce sales tax California cities received.
Since that change, the city has recently moved to discourage future development of industrial warehouses, extending a previous moratorium on warehouse development as of earlier this year.
Devon Sulli, an Inland Empire real estate executive, wrote in an argument against the measure that targeting a single industry with a special tax is unfair.
“Businesses do not absorb higher taxes indefinitely," Sulli wrote. “Higher operating costs are passed along through higher prices.”
Smith said Perris holds five e-commerce warehouses that should be unaffected by this measure and that generate $6 million a year in sales tax.