DATE: 05/07/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Finance Department
2025-187
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
QUARTERLY SALES TAX REPORT – 2024, QUARTER 4 (OCTOBER – DECEMBER) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City of Corona contracts with HdL Companies to provide sales tax consulting services, including quarterly data reports. The sales tax report for the fourth quarter of 2024 is provided to the City Council as a receive and file item.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council receive and file the quarterly sales tax information from HdL Companies for Quarter 4 2024 (October – December).
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
HdL Companies is contracted to provide sales tax consulting services for the City. They review and analyze the City’s sales tax activity quarterly. Their resources provide them with information to understand sales tax trends and how the City performs compared to agencies near Corona, agencies in Riverside County, Southern California, and the State.
There is a one-quarter lag in when the information is available to HdL Companies for their review and analysis.
ANALYSIS:
Below are the Quarter 4 2024 (October – December) sales tax highlights. The attached newsletter and consensus forecast documents provide additional details.
Quarter 4 2024 (October – December)
Corona’s Bradley-Burns sales tax receipts from October through December 2024 were
6.0% higher than the same period in 2023. Primarily due to a significant payment correction of previously misallocated funds. Excluding this item and reporting anomalies, actual sales increased by 1.4%.
A new business addition had a notable positive impact on heavy industrial returns. The aforementioned payment correction resulted in the City receiving a larger share of the countywide use tax pool this quarter, as this funding is distributed among local agencies based on their proportional cash receipts within the county. However, lower oil prices this year, compared to last year’s high levels driven by OPEC production cuts and geopolitical conflicts, negatively impacted this quarter’s results.
Measure X, the voter-approved district tax, underperformed compared to the BradleyBurns results. As a destination-based tax, it did not benefit from the same increase in allocations from the countywide use tax pool.
Net of anomalies, taxable sales for all of Riverside County declined by 1.1% over the comparable period; the Southern California region was down 1.2%.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with the recommended action.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is to receive and file a quarterly sales tax report, and there is no possibility that approval of the recommended actions will have a significant effect on the environment.
Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: KIM SITTON, FINANCE DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: BRETT CHANNING, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – 2024-Q4 Sales Tax Update Newsletter
2. Exhibit 2 – HdL California Consensus Forecast March 2025