Sales tax revenue could go towards safety, infrastructure at outlet
Riverside county supervisors John Benoit and Marion Ashley will present a proposal before their board asking to put sales tax revenue towards public safety and infrastructure at the outlet mall in Cabazon. The Desert Hills Premium Outlet is scheduled to open a huge expansion project in spring of 2014. The expansion includes room for 60 new stores and a four-story parking structure, which has already opened. The Cabazon Community Revitalization Act (CCRA) calls for 25% of the sales tax revenue from the expansion to go back to Cabazon in the form of public safety and a plan to ease traffic. “It’s a request to take a small piece of the increase generated in that area and return it to that area specifically,” said Benoit. “I think it’s supportable on that basis.”
The proposal projects the new stores will bring in about $2.7 million in sales tax a year. Benoit and Ashley want to earmark 25% of it for the project or about $690,000 for safety and other projects. “There’s a lot of people in a small space and that possibly seems like a recipe for disaster so it would be a great idea,” said Brenda Mitchellweiler, a visiting shopper from Anaheim.
The CCRA would last 20 years. They money would fund a full-time sheriff’s deputy at the outlets, a position recommended by Captain Robert Peebles from the Cabazon station. It would also also allow for additional staff during holiday weekends. The cost would be about $190,000. Some shoppers say, it’s not worth it. “Everyone’s well-behaved here and orderly and that,” said Gordon Baldwin, who’s visiting from Vancouver. “You’ve got a guy running around on a fancy bike, that makes a presence. I don’t know that you need it.”
Money from the proposal would also go towards the county’s “Lifeline” project, which in the longer term will provide for alternate access routes and more notifications for drivers when there’s major traffic problems between the Banning Pass and the Coachella Valley. “We’re going to spend some money, actually a lot of money, on changeable message signs and working with our concierge and our hotel industry,” said Supervisor Benoit. “Make sure that words gets out when the road’s closed, go another direction as quickly as possible.”
If the proposal does not pass, there type of expenses would come from the county’s general fund.
