Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - For example, to encourage a retailer to set up shop in a city, the city could refund half of the Bradley-Burns tax paid by the retailer. If retailers respond strongly to these rebates, then cities providing them could end up with higher revenues.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24 [Publication Details]

Sep 16, 2025 - Some of California's local governments offer partial sales tax rebates to try to boost the amount of taxable sales within their borders. In 2023-24, these rebates totaled $140 million. In this post, we describe the distribution of rebate payments across cities and counties. We also examine some economic and demographic characteristics of rebate-paying jurisdictions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5074

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

Apr 15, 2024 - Local governments, such as cities, counties, and local transit authorities, generally own and operate these agencies. In 2019, passenger fares and fees provided 17  percent of funding for these agencies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4890

The 2026-27 Budget: CDTFA’s Cannabis and Tobacco Programs

Feb 23, 2026 - Our analysis of these issues in the next two sections revolves around two overarching questions: How much should CDTFA spend on cannabis and tobacco enforcement? How should the state pay for these activities?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - In earlier years, individual awards were much smaller and more numerous, whereas recent rounds have a much smaller number of awards that are typically worth several million dollars each. Changes made to the program in 2018 likely explain much of this trend.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

Sales Tax Exemption for Bunker Fuel

Nov 19, 2025 - The exemption applies to fuel that water common carriers buy in California and use after they reach their first out-of-state destination. Chapter  442 directs our office to report three performance indicators: The average monthly maritime fuel price at all domestic and international Pacific seaports.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5094

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Both of these numbers provide a rough summary of how strongly the minimum wage compresses the wage distribution. In turn, this can help us gauge the potential labor market effects of further minimum wage hikes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

The 2022-23 Budget: Fuel Tax Rates

Feb 11, 2022 - The remaining one ‑third goes directly to cities and counties to support local street and road maintenance and rehabilitation. Federal Funding Also Supports Transportation Projects. In addition to state excise tax revenues, the state receives federal fuel excise tax revenue for transportation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4528

The 2025-26 Budget: CDTFA’s Tobacco Programs

Feb 14, 2025 - We do not know how much of the recent revenue decline is due to greater tax avoidance and how much is due to lower actual tobacco consumption. To the extent that tax avoidance could be a large part of the story, the size of the revenue loss highlights the importance of efforts to enforce tobacco tax laws.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4966

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Under the state ’s experience rating system, employers ’ annual tax rates are based on both how much that employer has contributed to the system and how much in benefits are attributable to its previous employees for all previous years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943