The annual State of the City event hosted by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce brings together businesses and government to tackle issues and improve business vitality.
"Our three main challenges tend to be finding a workforce who can then afford to live here and then getting through permitting and regulatory processes that sometimes slow things down," said Kristen Miller, Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce President/CEO.
Mayors and city managers for Carpinteria, Goleta, and Santa Barbara spoke about recent successes and problems in their cities, like the $7 million budget deficit in Santa Barbara.
"We’ve been trying to close the gap with expenditure reductions for the last several years," said Rene Eyerly, Santa Barbara Assistant City Administrator.
Another way to close the gap would be to increase taxes.
"We are considering a half-cent sales tax increase," Eyerly explained.
The current 8.75% tax in Santa Barbara is lower than other destination cities such as Santa Monica and Pasadena, according to Santa Barbara Assistant City Administrator Eyerly, and any increases will be discussed at public forums over the next few months.
Goleta and Carpinteria shared that their cities are seeing flat revenue growth, with sales and property taxes holding steady.
"When I looked at hotel tax, for two years in a row — going down," said Robert Nisbet, Goleta City Manager.
Additionally, all three cities said rising construction costs will be an ongoing challenge.
On the upside, Goleta says public engagement with government is at an all-time high and Santa Barbara is looking forward to its newest approach to homelessness.
"We're going to do a navigation center downtown, the first one ever for the downtown, and doing things that are improving the street, and it's already showing dividends," said Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse.
