Modesto mayor renews sales tax push

Mayor Garrad Marsh again is making the case for why he believes Modesto needs a sales tax increase, which he says primarily would pay for hiring more police officers and firefighters and for other public safety needs.

He laid out his argument in his budget message issued Wednesday, ahead of next week’s City Council hearings on Modesto’s proposed $367 million operating budget for its 2015-16 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

“Without greater revenues, Modesto will not be as safe as our citizens deserve,” the mayor wrote. “We will not be able to address gangs and drugs, child abuse and family conflicts, homelessness and vagrancy, or petty crimes.”

Marsh said he is considering a 1/2 percent general sales tax, with 80 percent to 90 percent of it being spent on public safety. He said such a tax would bring in about $14 million annually.

Marsh’s budget message includes some of the same themes he struck during his February State of the City address when he asked for a sales tax increase: While Modesto is living within its means and its finances are improving in the aftermath of the recession, it still does not have enough revenue to meet the public safety and other needs of its residents.

The budget message also warned of public safety cuts starting in the 2016-17 fiscal year if the city’s revenues do not increase. He said his proposed budget balances the $113.6 million general fund – which primarily pays for police and fire services – by using less than $5 million in one-time money, which won’t be available next year.

“The alternative of further reducing city services at this time is not acceptable to me; however, if long-term solutions to solve this deficit are not found in the next 12 months, the city will be faced with public safety reductions next year,” Marsh wrote.

Marsh also warned of public safety cuts about a year ago during the city’s 2014-15 budget hearings, including the closure of one of the city’s 11 fire stations. Modesto kept all of its stations open but has its lowest staffing levels for police officers and firefighters in at least several years.

He asked community members in his State of the City address to encourage council members to put a sales tax on the November ballot. Council members say no one has asked them to take up the mayor’s challenge. But some say that when talking with constituents, some constituents have indicated they would pay more in taxes if it meant more police officers and firefighters.

The mayor is running for a second term in the November election and is being opposed by Councilman Dave Lopez, who does not support a tax increase.

Marsh said he remains optimistic about the tax measure but acknowledges time is running out. The council has until July 3 to request Stanislaus County to put a measure on the November ballot. The council’s last meeting before that deadline is June 23.

He is counting on next week’s budget hearings to show council members the need for more revenue, but added he is open to any alternatives council members may propose. The hearings will be held in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place. They are Wednesday at 5 p.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m.

Marsh said there should be another opportunity later in May to show the city’s need for more money when the council takes up a proposal for the city to work more closely with its neighborhoods. He said the plan includes more police involvement with neighborhoods but the Police Department does not have enough officers to do that.

The mayor’s push for a tax increase comes after Modesto voters rejected Measure X, the 1 percent general sales tax increase the city put on the November 2013 ballot. The measure needed a simple majority to pass but received 49 percent of the vote.

Marsh said Modesto overreached with Measure X, asking voters to approve too big a tax increase that focused on too many areas, and did not do a good enough job of making its case for the tax increase. He said the measure also failed because it was imposed upon the community. He said he won’t ask the council to put a tax on the ballot unless the public is behind it.

“The last time, we did that without community involvement,” he said. “I don’t want another failure. If the community is not engaged with this to some degree, I don’t want to put something out there that will fail.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Modesto mayor renews sales tax push."