How the City of Florence Maximized Compliance, Grew Revenues & Streamlined Tax Administration.
Revenue management has always been a top priority for local governments. Tax revenues come from a variety of sources, including business licensing fees, sales taxes, property taxes, and more. Managing all of these disparate sources of tax revenue is a big task and a huge responsibility, especially when effective revenue management can make the difference between a balanced budget and a budgeting crisis.
But the coronavirus pandemic has made revenue management even more important than before. The pandemic has dramatically impacted tax revenues, and many state and local governments are struggling to adapt to the changing tax landscape that COVID-19 has created. Previously reliable sources of tax income are drying up, while new revenue sources derived from digital businesses and technologies are emerging in real time.
To manage their revenue streams effectively, governments need datadriven, cost-efficient, and streamlined technologies to maximize tax compliance and ensure they get the tax revenue that is owed to them.
Bob Leyde, City Clerk for the City of Florence, Alabama, knows the importance of effective revenue management and a partnership with Avenu has enabled the city to take advantage of cutting-edge technology that has streamlined tax administration and provided deep insight into areas of non-compliance.
Together, we were able to develop a solution to help Florence meet these challenges. Bob Leyde, City Clerk for the City of Florence, Alabama summarized the results when he stated, “Our partnership with Avenu has brought the city well over $3 million dollars of additional revenue that allowed us to provide needed services to our citizens.”
Learn how a combination of our solutions were able to create incredible results for this city.
Florence, Alabama
The October California Legislative Update provides a broad review of bills that were signed into law by Califonia’s Governor, Gavin Newsom.
Avenu Co-sponsored Pre-Paid Wireless Bill Signed by the Governor: On October 08, 2019, the Governor passed the Local Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act.
Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development: The Legislature’s budget approves a total of $100 million to support the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank’s loan guarantee program that provides financial assistance to small businesses.
Clean Cars by 2035: The executive order requires that all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California must be zeroemission vehicles by 2035.
Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation: Medicaid Director Seema Verma announced that, concerns that have been raised and they will be removing the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation from the regulatory agenda.
The June California Legislative Update covers the passage of the state budget and a number of bills related to the CARES Act. staff is currently monitoring 15 bills that seek to modify existing local taxes and impose new fees. This update provides the latest information on this legislation as well.
On June 15th, the Legislature passed the State Budget Act for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Our understanding is that the Legislature and Administration have not yet reached a final agreement; however, they have agreed to continue discussions and keep working on a compromise. The Budget Act and two trailer bills were sent to the governor and are further described in this report.
Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development: The Legislature’s budget approves a total of $100 million to support the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank’s loan guarantee program that provides financial assistance to small businesses.
Revenues: The provisions of AB 85 include a total General Fund benefit of approximately $4.4 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Read the full June California Legislative Update Here.
CLIENT UPDATE #1: Sales and Use Tax: Avenu has been hard at work developing economic assumptions on which to build revenue projections for each of our clients. For many of our clients, Sales and Use Tax is a primary revenue source and one that currently is in a state of flux. The pandemic has caused reduced economic activity, business closures, and uncertainty about the future. The recent Sales Tax Executive Order from Governor Newsom also impacted sales tax cash flows. This communication is intended to explain the lower than normal first quarter 2020 allocations to local governments resulting from the pandemic and the Governor’s Executive Order.
Sales and Use Tax Liabilities Deferred by CDTFA:
Extension Program: On April 2, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-40-20 that allowed businesses with under $1M in tax liability to delay their first quarter sales and use tax filings for 90 days. This action means that first quarter filings for these businesses, normally required by the end of April, could be delayed until the end of July.
Deferral Program: Another state program allows small businesses ($5M or less in taxable sales) to defer up to $50,000 of their sales and use tax liabilities until next fiscal year. For those who request the deferral, the owed amount would be payable in twelve equal installments over the following year and would not be subject to interest or penalties as long as these payments are made. The payments will start in August 2020 and they will not extend beyond July 31, 2021.
Learn more about what is happening in California, and read the full June COVID-19 update here.