The Challenge

The City of Paramount faced an inequity in its business tax structure that impacted the viability of businesses and essential City services. The existing structure, which hadn’t been updated in more than 50 years, was based on employee count instead of revenue, making small businesses pay disproportionately more in taxes than big businesses.

The City recognized that the business tax structure needed to be updated, but changes to the tax structure required a ballot measure supported by two-thirds of voters. Paramount turned to Tripepi Smith to help educate the community on the changes being proposed to its complex tax policy.

Our Approach

The Tripepi Smith team developed a comprehensive strategy to educate the public about the ballot measure through a communications outreach campaign. We focused on creating clear messaging across multiple platforms and strategically engaged with stakeholders. Our research identified three core messages: fairness for small businesses, no tax increases for residents and maintaining and protecting City services.

Tripepi Smith began by creating educational materials, including a dedicated webpage that featured details about the ballot measure, a breakdown of the business tax rate and a Frequently Asked Questions section. The page was developed in English and Spanish to serve Paramount’s diverse community. Next, talking points were crafted for City officials that reiterated information on the website to ensure consistency.

Working closely with City leadership, Tripepi Smith began engaging with the community. Materials were produced for various publications, information was added to employee newsletters, and 15 posts were created for social media that garnered 7,300 impressions on Facebook and 17,000 views on Instagram. Each item was carefully customized to address the specific audience while maintaining the core messaging. Our team also created creative educational flyers for the City to distribute, press releases, as well as presentation materials that were used at least two City Council meetings.

When possible, partnerships were identified that could help elevate the City’s messaging. The Paramount Chamber of Commerce helped educate business owners by providing materials that clearly explained the existing, complex tax structure and highlighting why the measure’s new rules, based on revenue, would make taxes fairer for small businesses.

Results

The campaign delivered a decisive victory for the City, with 77% of voters approving Measure LR. The results well exceeded the required two-thirds threshold and reflected the community’s understanding of and support for the reform.

The passage secured approximately $350,000 in additional revenue for the City to support critical services, including public safety, street maintenance and parks. Additionally, three-in-four small businesses benefited from a reduced tax burden, which created a more equitable business environment.