HomeMy WebLinkAboutS. 743 LTR to Feinstein 20130422at)
city o s� is oBisOFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
/g O9990 Palm Street ■ San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249 ■ 805/781-7119
April 22, 2013
VIA FACSIMILE ONLY 202-228-3954
The Honorable Diane Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
RE: S. 743. The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013
NOTICE OF SUPPORT
Dear Senator Feinstein:
On behalf of the City of San Luis Obispo I wish to express our support of S.743. This
legislation will provide equitable tax treatment for sales of tangible goods between brick -and -
mortar establishments and remote sellers over the Internet. The additional revenues collected
will assist our city in the delivery of quality public services to our residents.
With the increasing volume of sales occurring on the Internet, our city has concerns with
the competitive disadvantage faced by our local retailers which have made investments and
provided jobs in our community, and the inability to collect revenue from remote sellers.
The California Board of Equalization recently estimated that $1.1 billion of use taxes
related to remote electronic and mail sales from out-of-state vendors are uncollected (of this
total, $755 million is due the state's General Fund, with the balance owed to local governments).
About three -fourths of this gap relates to business -to -consumer sales, with the rest relating to
business -to -business sales. Based on use tax collections, there is only about 1 percent consumer
compliance with use tax obligations.
Following significant cuts to state and federal funding, including sequestration, these
taxes are critical to our continuing fiscal stability. For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo
supports S.743.
Sincerely,
qan Marx
Mayor
cc: City Council
City Manager
Jennifer Whiting, League of CA Cities, jwhitingL&cacities.org
David Mullinax, League of CA Cities