Phone-tax tweak to go on ballot

The city of Chico needs to update its telephone-tax ordinance to reflect changes in technology and billing methods, or risk losing much of the money it generates—some $1.4 million annually—to legal challenge. Doing so, however, requires voter approval.

For that reason, the City Council Tuesday (Jan. 17) authorized the city attorney to prepare an ordinance for the November ballot.

The anticipated changes will expand the base of the tax to include such new technologies as Internet calls, but it likely will not seek to generate increased revenue—though the council left that door open a crack. Other cities that have updated their ordinances have lowered the tax rate very slightly to entice voter approval. (Chico’s rate is 5 percent.)

The vote to move forward was 5-2, with Councilmen Mark Sorensen and Bob Evans dissenting.