City Puts Business Tax Plan on Ballot

The Hermosa Beach City Council in a meeting Tuesday night unanimously approved the Hermosa Beach Business License Tax Committee's for the Nov. 8 municipal election ballot.

The measure is to face a rival ordinance proposed by Hermosa Beach resident Jim Lissner—who requested that his initiative now be removed from the ballot, according to an article published in the Easy Reader.

He reportedly told the council that there are some defects in the initiative. But City Attorney Michael Jenkins reportedly said Lissner can't remove the ballot item as it for an election vote.

The initiative—titled "an ordinance modifying the amount of the business tax on restaurants and bars in order to increase tax revenue to the city"—had collected 698 valid signatures in support. 

The initiative has estimated to raise an extra $4.7 million for the city. But its opponents, many local restaurant owners, have said that the tax hikes under Lissner's measure would put them out of business.

City Council members also have publicly condemned Lissner's initiative, turning their support to the Business License Tax Committee's proposal instead.

"The City of Hermosa Beach and its businesses have undergone substantial changes in the 23 years since the business license tax was last amended, and the current system doesn’t reflect those changes," said Hermosa Beach Mayor Howard Fishman in a statement Wednesday. "The proposed ordinance the City Council voted to put on the Nov. 8 ballot more accurately reflects the businesses currently operating in Hermosa Beach."

The committee's proposed ordinance would, among other changes, exempt new businesses from paying a business license tax during their first year of opening.

The only new businesses that would not receive this exemption would be bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. If approved by voters, the ordinance has estimated it would generate about an extra $197,000 per year for the city.

Earlier Patch coverage of the Hermosa Beach business license tax: