SAN CLEMENTE : Study Finds Residents Shopping Out of Town

A new economic report comparing the city’s sales taxes to those of Orange County as a whole backs up what city officials have been saying for years: Residents do most of their shopping out of town.

“We are hemorrhaging sales taxes,” said David Lund, economic development manager, who presented the report to the City Council this week. “It is very obvious that the city needs to encourage additional retail development.”

According to the report, sales for clothing stores in San Clemente are a small fraction of the county average per capita. The city receives $107 per capita each year in sales taxes for apparel, compared to the county average of $450, Lund said, “clearly demonstrating that our residents are purchasing their clothes somewhere other than San Clemente.”

Likewise, taxable sales for furniture and appliances only amount to 30% of the county’s average per capita, despite business by K mart, the highest sales-tax producer in the city.

Local restaurants were about even with the county average: about $880 in annual sales taxes per capita, most of that coming from fast-food operations along the Interstate 5 freeway, Lund said.

Gas stations, however, were the highlight, bringing in $770 per capita compared to the county’s average of $624. That category, too, benefits from proximity to the freeway, Lund said.

Copies of the report are available to the public. Information: (714) 361-8391.