Reply #15: In CA, prop 13 was passed by the State (initiative) and it only applies to property taxes. [View All]

And most states apportion much of the sales tax back to the general funds of the counties they come out of. Also, where there are sales taxes, there are often local sales taxes as well that go directly to cities and counties.

Oakland CA has proposed taxing medical marijuana locally, since MMJ is administered county by county in CA.

The crime rate will fall by at least 50% and since local cops (police/sheriffs) account for far more than 50% of pot arrests, that will mean that cities and counties will see their law enforcement costs slashed.

So even if they didn't get a dime of sales tax, they would still see a huge drop in overhead.

So, no, I'm not conflating local and state government and taxation.


Though, in fact, local and state government and taxation are quite intertwined in many ways.

For example, Here in MT the State (under the Repos) kept cutting their contributions to K-12 for about 12 years running. That resulted in huge increases in local property taxes to make up the difference.

Also, tobacco and alcohol are federally taxed, as well as taxed by states. And most states apportion some of that money back to local governments based on sales.

There is already sales tax collection infrastructure in place in all but 2 or 3 states, so no need to re-invent the wheel.