Recreation versus public safety? This a question the Morgan Hill
City Council could be asking itself as it struggles to provide
additional police officers.
Morgan Hill
Recreation versus public safety? This a question the Morgan Hill City Council could be asking itself as it struggles to provide additional police officers.
Councilwoman Marby Lee doesn’t think the council wants to make a choice, but she doesn’t want to put a tax measure on the ballot to pay for public safety services.
“I’d like to see compromise from all sides, everybody’s going to have to pitch in a little,” she said Thursday, commenting on a discussion Wednesday evening during the city’s financial policy committee meeting.
Lee, who chairs the committee, said council members and the public have clearly indicated that public safety services are a priority.
The council would like to boost the Morgan Hill Police Department staff by nine officers and three non-sworn staff members to provide better service for the community, cut overtime and reduce patrol shifts to 10 hours each, instead of 12.
Police Chief Bruce Cumming prepared a detailed report related to service levels, which council members reviewed during a public safety workshop in July. The workshop was scheduled as a result of a recommendation to the council by the public safety and community services committee in May that the city improve its police services as the city continues to grow.
One of the suggestions that came up during the workshop was that the city look at reducing costs of existing services to pay additional officers and staff.
“At this point, I think we’re still trying to get answers on what our options are,” Lee said. “Steve Rhymer (city recreation director) has done a fantastic job of looking at things that maybe haven’t been considered before. We’re still looking for some answers before we do make a recommendation (to the council). More questions keep coming up.”
The committee was considering, as directed by the council, ways in which the city could possibly cut existing costs to free up general fund money. The increases to the police department would cost approximately $1.5 million a year. The committee also discussed several different “revenue enhancements,” or fees and taxes, that could help fund the increased staffing.
One fee under consideration is a 911 emergency call center fee. With a $2-single-line and $15-multiple-line charge, the city could raise approximately $430,000; with a $4 single-line and $30-multiple-line charge, approximately $860,000 could be raised for police staffing. Other cities with similar fees include San Jose, Watsonville, San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
City staff also provided information about a Mello Roos tax to the committee. If the council accepted the Mello Roos option, and property owners of undeveloped land voted to annex the land to the community facilities district, the city could earn up to $250,000 per year, if 250 homes were built each year.
Other revenue-increasing options considered were a general sales tax increase, which could raise nearly the $1.5 million needed, a utility tax, which could bring in $1-1.3 million per year and a parcel tax, which also could bring in the necessary $1.5 million.
Lee said, however, that the notion of a tax concerns her.
“Can we present as an option the potential to sunset (a tax),” she asked Wednesday.
Councilman Mark Grzan, the other council member on the committee, asked what would happen after the sunset period, for example, five years. Lee said perhaps after that period, the sales tax revenues from the new retail coming into the city would have grown enough to cover the increased public safety costs, but City Manager Ed Tewes said the economic growth is planned to provide the minimal amount of police services, but would not cover the increase in services.
Lee would like to look deeper into options involving cutting recreation costs, for example. Tewes said, potentially, the council could consider such options as completely closing the Aquatics Center in the winter or contracting out services at the recreation facilities, or even selling the three city recreation centers, the Centennial Recreation Center, the Community and Cultural Center and the Aquatics Center, or an option somewhere in between.
The committee did not formulate a recommendation for the full council.
Lee said she would like to see the committee have something ready by December so that when the council holds its annual goal-setting workshop in January, the recommendation can be considered.
“I think if it is going to come down to some kind of tax, some kind of compromise, I want to be able to say that we have thoroughly looked into this,” she said. “I want people to know that we have considered every option, and here’s the best way to get the increased public safety services that we agree are necessary.”
