Turner for City Clerk
One of the primary responsibilities of the City Clerk is to register businesses, including rental properties.
Since 1990, the City of San Bernardino has failed to collect millions of dollars in rental license revenue and allowed thousands of unlicensed rental properties to serve as sanctuaries for parolees, sexual predators, degenerates and unsavory characters.
It was revealed this week that there are businesses in the City of San Bernardino who are failing to charge the full 8.00% sales tax rate. The most notable examples are Wal-Mart, Circle K and Food 4 Less on Highland Avenue.
We do not know how pervasive this problem is and most troubling, we do not even know if these businesses are even paying sales tax to San Bernardino.
With tough, innovative leadership I will:
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Ensure all rental properties are properly licensed and shut down those refusing to comply;
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Strip business licenses from absentee slumlords failing to abide by code compliance standards and put them out of business;
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Audit and ensure that all businesses are collecting the appropriate sales tax and remitting it to our city;
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Require group homes to register online so families can protect their children from sexual predators.
A community is only as good as the quality of its residents and the people those residents attract. For too long, our politicians have coddled criminals and absentee slumlords that bring down our city.
By aggressively targeting unlicensed rentals and absentee landlords, we can generate more revenue for additional enforcement and build upon this momentum. Strict enforcement will require landlords to invest and maintain their properties. Market forces will then require rental rates to increase and result in higher quality residents, a decrease in the rental supply and an overall increase in property values and quality of life.
With a little hard work, some common sense and tough, innovative leadership, we can turn this city around.
Sincerely,
Joseph Turner |
