After reviewing a proposed $15 million budget with a $669,000 deficit, the Sebastopol City Council on Tuesday decided a 1/2-cent city sales tax offered the best route to fiscal sustainability and voted to put the measure before voters this November.
It was a notable turnabout for some on the council.
“I have not been willing to approve this and I still have reservations,” said Council member Jill McLewis, who opposed previous tax measures. “The only reason I am willing even to consider this, and why I’ve been trying to get to ‘yes’ is, I’ve been listening to the community … and we’ve received so much feedback that people are OK with this.”
McLewis said she would support the tax on the condition the council set “a policy” establishing its priorities for how to spend it.
Were the ballot measure to include language defining specifically what the tax would fund, that would make it a “special tax” requiring the approval of two-thirds of voters, or 66%.
Articulating priorities through a council policy, said City Counsel Alex Mog, would mean it was still a “general tax” requiring a simple majority to pass, or 50% plus 1, an easier political hurdle to cross.
“If this is what it takes to get us over the finish line, I’m totally in favor,” said Council member Neysa Hinton. “And I think it will help us get this passed.”
The sales tax would raise $1.52 million a year and the council voted to include a 12-year sunset clause, meaning it would expire in 2037 if it passed this November.
Council member Sandra Maurer, who also opposed previous council efforts to pursue tax measures, proposed the sunset clause.
Last year, the council rejected proposals for a new parcel tax and a sale tax measure. But in a recent city-sponsored poll, the results of which were released this week, 70.3% of respondents said they would vote yes on a 1/2-cent sales tax increase.
The council voted 5-0 to support it Tuesday.
“A unified front is the best way to get the sales tax approved in our community,” said Mayor Diana Rich.
The poll described the tax as the: “Sebastopol Public Safety, Roads, City Services Measure: To maintain Sebastopol’s City services such as 911 emergency medical/police/fire response, fire protection, emergency preparedness, maintenance of streets/roads, parks/trails, library, youth and senior services, retaining/attracting local businesses, and for general government use, shall the measure establishing a 1/2 cent sales tax generating approximately $1,500,000 million annually until ended by voters, requiring audits, public spending disclosure, and all funds used locally, be adopted?”
Sebastopol’s current sales tax is 9.25%.
Measure H, a 1/2-cent fire protection sales tax measure voters approved in March, takes effect in October, pushing the city’s rate to 9.75%.
Budget to come back
“I think there is a path toward fiscal sustainability in this community and I think we’ve made a start on this path,” said City Manager Don Schwartz, who called the sales tax “crucial.”
The budget he presented to the council Tuesday outlined a variety of cost savings, as well as bringing expenses down about $190,000 from the previous fiscal year but his efforts still left a $669,000 deficit.
The budget also proposes raising revenue in various ways.
One was to free up staff time by merging the Planning Commission and Design Review Board and reducing resources now devoted to the Public Arts and Climate Action committees. That would allow staff to work on development projects and grants that could bring in an estimated $92,000, the budget report said. The council asked staff to put together a full report on that proposal and bring it back for review.
Revenues are expected to also grow through development fees, largely driven by an 80-unit housing development that the council approved in April. Projections are that 40 of those units will come on line this year, generating $800,000 in fees for city.
The council recommended the budget include a new police officer and a dispatcher’s position, going against Vice Mayor Stephen Zollman’s recommendation to fund a program — in use in Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Cotati — in which mental health and medical professionals respond to calls otherwise often handled by police.
The council also chose not to spend $20,000 on landscaping for the police station, instead putting that money toward public works for maintenance supplies and services.
As drafted, the budget is to eliminate city funding for the Sebastopol Senior Center, saving $38,250; and reduce by $76,600 the city’s support for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center. The city would provide $58,300 to the center to help it become self sufficient without future city funding. The council went along with both those recommendations.
In the end, the council asked for changes that in total added $28,400 to the projected deficit.
The council moved through the budget presentation using a series of thumbs-up, thumbs-down straw votes to let city staff know what changes to make as they prepare a final budget, which the council is expected to officially approve Aug 6.
You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 707-387-2960 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @jeremyhay
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