Modesto nears putting general sales tax on November ballot

A divided Modesto City Council has come closer to putting a one-half percent general sales tax on the November ballot, which officials say primarily would be used for public safety. This comes after voters narrowly rejected a 1 percent general sales tax the city placed on the ballot in 2013.

Council members voted 5-2 on Tuesday night to have staffers bring them two ballot measures for their approval next Tuesday. The first would ask voters to approve the sales tax; the second would ask them whether all of the tax revenue should be spent on the city’s Safer Neighborhoods Initiative.

The initiative calls for spending more than 90 percent of the tax for police and fire services, such as hiring more police officers and keeping fire stations open, and the rest on such measures as hiring more code-enforcement officers, ridding neighborhoods of drug houses and expanding youth programs.

Councilmen Dave Lopez and Bill Zoslocki voted against bringing back the measures for a final vote to place them on the November ballot. They said they would support putting a specific tax for public safety on the ballot, but not a general tax.

A general sales tax can be used for any general government services and requires a simple majority to pass. The concern is that the second ballot measure asking voters whether the tax should be spent on the Safer Neighborhoods Initiative is strictly advisory, and a subsequent council could change how the tax is spent. Modesto is considering having the tax expire in eight years.

Some audience members called a general sales tax a “trust me” tax, though city officials say the tax would have safeguards, such as a citizens committee to monitor how it is spent. A specific tax can be spent only on its specific purpose – such as public safety – but requires two-thirds voter approval to pass.

Lopez, who is challenging Mayor Garrad Marsh in the November election, said that because more than 90 percent of the tax would be spent on public safety, this is a specific tax and the council should have the courage and honesty to put a public safety tax on the ballot.

Zoslocki said community members are telling him the two measures are confusing, but they support a specific tax for public safety. “I would support placing a specific tax on the ballot and letting the public decide,” he said.

Councilman Dave Cogdill Jr. voted with the majority, but he said it was a difficult decision.

He said if it were his decision, the council wouldn’t be talking about a tax. Instead, the focus would be on how Modesto could grow its revenues by growing the economy. “I don’t believe in either one,” he said. “But people ought to have the right to make that choice. If they want to pay more.”

He raised concerns with both taxes, from a general tax being a “trust me” tax to the difficulty of reaching the two-thirds threshold for a specific tax. He added that if Modesto pursued a specific public safety tax, it would face the risk of opponents focusing the debate on compensation for police officers and firefighters.

That happened in 2013 when Modesto placed Measure X on the ballot. Though it was a general tax, much of the debate centered on public-safety pay and pensions, with critics complaining about the number of officers and firefighters who made more than $100,000 a year. On Tuesday, an audience member raised a similar issue when he complained about what he called the high compensation for city employees in a community where many struggle economically.

Cogdill sided with a general tax because, he said, while public safety is important, a city is more than just its police officers and firefighters. He said it would be up to the council to ensure the tax is spent as intended.

Marsh said this tax is not a repeat of Measure X. He said that measure was too ambitious. Measure X was expected to bring in $26 million annually. The measure the council is considering is expected to bring in $14 million annually. Marsh added that since Measure X’s defeat – it received 49 percent of the vote – Modesto has taken more steps to live within its means.

Modesto officials say that while city revenues are improving, they have not recovered to pre-recession levels. And after years of budget cuts, the city is unable to provide services that residents expect. For instance, officials say Modesto has about 20 percent fewer police officers than it had in 2008.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Modesto nears putting general sales tax on November ballot."