Inglewood Area Subregional Groups' Findings

Preliminary Impacts

February 6, 1998

1. Shift in land use emphasis from property tax producers to sales tax producers has hurt traditional downtown businesses through unfavorable and potentially unfair competition.
2. New businesses coming into the historic downtown business district may not be desirable businesses or reflective of community standards.
3. Focus of economic development efforts by government is on big businesses that produce sales tax revenue and not small business which develop and promote the culture of Inglewood.
4. Growing antipathy to government at all levels has prevented Inglewood from charging or raising fees on fee based services.
5. Projects face delay due to personnel cuts in some departments at Inglewood City Hall.
6. The growing disconnect between voters and government has lead to a voter turnout rate in local elections of 10%.
7. Los Angeles County has the highest rate of uninsured people, (1 in every three) yet Los Angeles County continues to provide a total spectrum of care which will not be possible in the near future.
8. Shortage of County staff is an obstacle to the delivery of health services.
9. Utility tax in Inglewood is 10%. Many neighboring communities either do not charge or charge less. This may have a detrimental effect upon economic development efforts and presents a further challenge for small businesses.
10. Utility deregulation may have an impact on public revenues.
11. Consumers may not realize the full benefits of utility deregulation due to the utility tax.
12. Tax bill may be higher then the public perceives due to the utility tax.
13. Public education on how public services are paid for and who pays for them are needed at the grass roots level. Most people have little understanding of how this works.