Sausalito will not ask voters this November to update the city\u2019s business licensing rules.<\/p>\n
The City Council tabled a proposed ballot measure that recognized maritime businesses, clarified tax classifications and cut taxes for some businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main purpose of the revisions was to reduce taxes,\u201d Mayor Steven Woodside said. \u201cBecause this was not well-understood by many, and because there are so many election-related and other issues pending now, a unanimous council decided to postpone this until 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0July 21 decision came after three dozen residents wrote letters. Most said the revisions would hurt some blue-collar businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease vote NO on the upcoming business license tax that is written to apply to dog walkers, hand persons and maids, among others,\u201d wrote Sharon Lambton. \u201cServices of this nature should NOT require additional fees just because they are offered, in home, in Sausalito.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis resolution requires further study, particularly its effect on small businesses in the Marinship,\u201d wrote John Ferrell. \u201cDo not rush into another problem where negative ramifications are missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city established its business license tax code in 1968.<\/p>\n
In 2018, 65% of voters approved a ballot measure reducing the ordinance\u2019s 22 business tax classifications to four categories. Updating the rules required passage by voters.<\/p>\n
Ambiguities in the code surfaced in March when the council heard an appeal by KKMI Sausalito, a maritime repair and maintenance yard at Clipper Yacht Harbor.<\/p>\n
The business has been randomly selected by auditors reviewing city tax records. The city concluded KKMI belonged in a different licensing and tax category. The business was assessed $66,000 in fees and penalties. It has appealed.<\/p>\n
During the council hearing, it emerged that the city\u2019s business licensing code did not have a category for maritime and some blue-collar businesses.<\/p>\n
In addition to granting the appeal, the council instructed staff to report on other missing categories or ambiguities. That presentation was made on July 7.<\/p>\n
Angeline Loeffler, the finance director, recommended creating a \u201cmaritime business category\u201d with a \u201ctax rate of $2 per $1,000 gross receipts.\u201d She also suggested \u201ca new catchall category for non-professional services\u201d with a rate of $3 per $1,000 gross receipts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both categories would have a $125 minimum tax rate. She also suggested the council be given explicit authority to reduce tax rates and estimated the new classifications would generate between $10,000 and $25,000 annually.<\/p>\n
The next general election where voters can amend the ordinance will be in November 2028. In the meantime, city staff said they will look at shorter-term fixes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Council directed the preparation of a resolution providing clarification of the existing business license tax ordinance in the event the Council decides not to place a measure on the ballot,\u201d City Attorney Sergio Rudin said in a staff report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be provided at a subsequent council meeting for consideration in the event the Council elects not to place a measure on the ballot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sausalito will not ask voters this November to update the city\u2019s business licensing rules. The City Council tabled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1400,387,7,23,992,180,993,266,101,103,102,3624,3625,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-418307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-2026-elections","tag-business","tag-california","tag-local-news","tag-marin-county","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sausalito","tag-sausalito-city-council","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}