SACRAMENTO -- Golf course owners and some of their customers are teed off at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as are veterinarians, auto mechanics and amusement park operators.
The Republican governor is proposing to tax rounds of golf, auto repairs, veterinary care, amusement park and sporting event admissions, as well as appliance and furniture repairs. The moves are part of his strategy to erase a nearly $42 billion budget deficit over the next year-and-a-half.
The plan to extend the state sales tax to some services is among several proposals under consideration by Schwarzenegger and lawmakers as they try to reach a midyear budget fix. But it already has generated furious opposition from businesses that would be affected and some of their customers.
California isn't the only state considering taxes on services to address its revenue shortfall. In New York, Gov. David Paterson has proposed taxes on taxi rides, movies, concerts and sporting events and personal services such as haircuts, manicures and massages.
