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City of Nogales says they expect caravan from Central America to impact business

Posted at 10:21 PM, Nov 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-21 00:35:59-05

Feet away from the border, Richard Cho paces back and forth in front of his store, Baby World. 

"Today is really slow."

Cho says most of the time there are few people who walk passed one of business areas in Nogales, located right on the border. 

City council member, Marcelino Varona, says the city has begun making adjustments to their budget. They are expecting the caravan to be a reason for a decline in sales. 

"Our City of Nogales income come entirely from sales tax. We have no property tax here. So if we lose sales during these prime months of November through December and mid January, then we have to adjust our entire budget." 

For their more than 300 employees, the city has scaled back their planned $1,000 to $500. Taking their possible sales tax decline into consideration. 

"And the other 500 dollars we will see how our revenues are during the month of April and May and then make a decision at that time." 

Varona says whether the caravan from Central America arrives or not, business will be affected because of the military's reinforcement of the border. 

"Absolutely, yes because our shoppers come all the way from Hermosillo. So when they come over here they don't want to have to spend from 12 midnight to five or six in the morning in their cars waiting to cross just to purchase."