DigitalVision/Thinkstock
As part of a strategy to address the imbalance in the General Fund budget, the City of Santa Rosa has proposed a measure to increase the business license tax for large businesses in Santa Rosa, characterized by the proposal as those with a revenue over $1 million dollars. The Business License Tax has had a cap of $3000 and has not been increased since 1990. The proposed measure removes the cap and a business like an auto dealership with $10,000,000 in gross receipts would pay nearly $15,000 dollars. Dianne Freeman, owner of Freeman Auto in Santa Rosa argues that big businesses already have large tax burdens, and that a drastic increase like this would make many companies consider doing business in another city. Changes to the Business License Tax ordinances would require simple majority voter approval in the November election. The proposed measure has yet to be approved by the council for the ballot.