Agenda - City of Santa Monica

City Council Report
City Council Meeting: May 14, 2013
Agenda Item: 3-D
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor and City Council
Gigi Decavalles-Hughes, Director or Finance
Parking Facilities Tax and Business License Tax Audit Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a t wo-year professional services agreement with MuniServices, a Californiabased
company, in an amount not-to-exceed $221,262 for parking facilities tax and
business license tax audit services.
Executive Summary
In order to ensure that the City is realizing the full tax revenue owed by companies that
are not properly reporting, and to comply with Section 6.04.280 of the Santa Monica
Municipal Code (SMMC), which requires the Finance Director to conduct a program to
audit business license tax returns of businesses operating in the City of Santa Monica,
the City seeks to contract with an agency to provide Parking Facilities Tax and Business
License Tax auditing services. The recommended contract amount would allow the City
to audit 89 par king facilities, as well as specific companies identified by staff as
potentially underreporting gross receipts used to calculate business license tax.
Staff recommends MuniServices, LLC to provide audit and revenue enhancement
services to ensure accurate reporting and payment of Parking Facilities Tax and
Business License tax. T he fee for the audits would be a not-to-exceed amount of
$221,262 for 89 parking facilities and for as-needed business license tax audits
Background
Parking Tax
The City of Santa Monica levies a 10% tax on private and public parking fees collected
in the City, which generates approximately $9.3 million annually in Parking Facility Tax
(PFT) revenues, two-thirds (approximately $6.2 million) of which is collected and
remitted to the City by 177 private parking facilities that report collecting parking taxes.
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