Chino Hills weighs giving up California's lowest sales tax rate to close a $4.3M gap
The city's pitch is a structural deficit it can no longer defer. City Manager Rod Hill told the council the 2026-27 General Fund carries $59.2 million in revenue against $63.5 million in expenditures — a $4.3 million gap covered this year by reserves. Those reserves run $25.4 million, and the city projects they empty within three to five years on the current path.
The cost driver is public safety. Hill's figures put the increase at $5.7 million from fiscal 2020-21 to 2026-27, alongside inflation, aging infrastructure, and new wildfire-prevention obligations now that the city carries a high or very high fire-hazard designation. The council directed staff on June 9 to bring back a one-cent measure; city data projects it would raise $11.5 million a year.
For an operator, the number that matters is the rate, not the deficit. At 7.75% Chino Hills undercuts Chino — already at 8.75% — by a full cent. That gap is a real edge for any retailer or restaurant pricing against the city line, and the measure would close it. A point of sales tax is rarely the deciding factor in where a business locates, but for high-ticket retail it is a visible line on every receipt, and Chino Hills has spent years on the favorable side of it.
The vote is structured as the choice Mayor Brian Johsz laid out: approve the measure and it goes to voters; reject it and the city turns to cuts. The council cannot raise the tax itself — only place it on the ballot. If it clears July 14 and passes November 3, the new rate would land in 2027. Operators have a two-meeting window — the June 22 and June 27 public budget sessions — to read the city's case before the council acts.
One caution the city is already navigating: a California Common Cause transparency officer noted Chino Hills can inform residents about the budget but cannot advocate for the measure or spend public funds campaigning for a yes vote. The budget presentations are pitched as education, not persuasion.