Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
their fair share of tax revenue, as they spend less on electricity (which is produced
and sold by the city itself) than more traditional manufacturing plants. Warehouses
account for 27 % of the city's property but generate less than 5 % of its revenue.
City officials also argue that warehouses generate much of the truck traffic,
requiring expensive repairs, and causing road congestion.
Two strategies have been identified in order to prevent logistics from assuming
too much importance in Vernon:
Between 1989 and 2005, a municipal regulation prohibited warehousing uses for
all buildings over 50,000 square feet, ''because we had started to understand that
the
logistics
industry
required
increasingly
large
buildings''
(Kevin
Wilson,
Director of Community, Services and Water)
Since the end of the 1990s, the parcel tax
14
has been applied to all facilities
involved in warehousing, distribution and trucking, with the exception of refrig-
erated warehouses. This is a very unusual type of tax target in the U.S. The
measure increased the warehouse parcel tax from 1 cent per square foot of land to
20 cents per square foot. A proposal made in February 2012 to increase the tax by
a further 3 cents is under discussion.
15
Despite the parcel tax, warehouses have continued to settle in Vernon, thanks to
its very central position in the metropolitan area. The industries that have left or
are leaving are textile, garment and paper manufacturing. Many manufacturing
activities remain or are even developing, for example food processing, but logistics
related activities are becoming very important (see Table
1
) and some, cold
storage for example, have gained a specific position in the city, giving it a new
specialization. Two intermodal yards are also located in the city (and in the nearby
City of Commerce), used by BNSF and Union Pacific. According to the city, these
companies are difficult to deal with, as they tend to buy land and convert it into
parking areas. They have refused to pay the parcel tax so far, arguing that they
have inter-state operations.
Overall, half of the buildings in Vernon are owner occupied, while the other
half is tenant occupied. The city is not directly involved in parcel development or
14
Parcel, here, is to be understood in its planning sense (land lot). California parcel taxes are
'qualified special taxes' on specific properties whose revenue can be earmarked for any kind of
specific target, such as schools.
15
Press release, February 9, 2012: ''City staff has unveiled a proposal for enacting a special 23-
cents-per-square-foot parcel tax assessment to raise $16 million in new revenue for the city
general fund budget.… The $16 million in general fund revenues raised through the special parcel
tax would be earmarked for support of police, fire, environmental health services and capital
improvements…. Under the staff's proposal, approximately 900 property owners in Vernon
would be taxed 23-cents-per-square-foot as an assessment on the total land space on which their
businesses operate. On average, the special parcel tax would amount to less than $50.00 per day
per business assessed. Warehouse business owners presently paying a warehouse parcel tax
would not be ''double-taxed'' on that portion of their property already subject to the warehouse
parcel tax assessment.''
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