Modesto to discuss sales tax for public safety

The Modesto City Council on Tuesday evening is expected to discuss the wording of a potential sales tax ballot measure and whether to bring it before voters in November.

Mayor Garrad Marsh last week called for Tuesday’s special meeting so council members could discuss the ballot measure ahead of their June 23 meeting, at which they could vote to put the sales tax proposal. June 23 is the council’s last regular meeting ahead of Stanislaus County’s deadline for placing items on the November ballot.

The city is considering a half-percent general sales tax for eight years. City officials have said such a tax would bring in about $14 million annually to the city’s $115 million general fund, which primarily pays for public safety.

City officials have linked the tax to the city’s safer neighborhoods initiative, which calls for hiring more police officers and firefighters and increasing other services, such as hiring more code enforcement officers and expanding the youth recreation program, though nearly all of the spending would be for public safety. A draft ordinance for the sales tax states that since 2008 the Police Department has lost about 20 percent of its officers and the Fire Department about 25 percent of its staff to budget cuts.

The council is considering a general tax, which requires a simple majority to pass and can be used for any general government purpose. But city officials say they would add such safeguards as having two ballot measures, one that asks voters whether they approve the tax and a second advisory one asking them whether 100 percent of the tax shall be for implementing the Safer Neighborhoods Initiative.

More on Tuesday’s meeting – including the Safer Neighborhoods Initiative – is available at www.modestogov.com/ccl/agendas. Scroll down and click on the link for the June 16 council meeting to access the reports.

The council’s discussion on whether to put a sales tax on the ballot comes after voters rejected Measure X, a 1 percent general sales tax in November 2013. It required a simple majority to pass but received 49 percent of the vote.

Some council members also have raised questions about this sales tax proposal.

For instance, Councilmen Dave Cogdill Jr. and Bill Zoslocki fear the city may lose sight of the lasting solution to its revenue woes, which they say is doing everything it can to promote economic development. And Councilman Dave Lopez – who is challenging Marsh in November for mayor – has said Modesto needs to consider a dedicated public safety tax. Such a tax would require two-thirds voter approval but could only be used for its dedicated purpose.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in room B300 in the basement of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St. The council normally meets in the basement chamber but cannot in this case because of a regularly scheduled county Board of Supervisors meeting.

This story was originally published June 15, 2015 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Modesto to discuss sales tax for public safety."