In addition to the health impacts of COVID-19, the restrictions put into place through the public health order have taken an unprecedented toll on our federal, state, and local economy. Economists are predicting cities such as San Rafael who are heavily reliant on sales tax, transaction and use tax (TUT), and transient occupancy tax (TOT) will endure the hardest financial hit.
As of April 30, 2020, it is preliminarily projected that over the next 16 months, the City will experience reductions in revenue in the range of approximately $11,790,000, which is 15% of the City’s General Fund budget. The breakdown of this financial hit is as follows: 71% of the revenue reductions are due to loss of sales tax and TUT, 10% is attributed to TOT, 6% is attributed to business licenses and the remaining 13% is an accumulation of several smaller revenue generating sources.