It was 19th century jurist Lord Bramwell who said,
”
Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom
forgotten.
”
It was 19th century jurist Lord Bramwell who said, “Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom forgotten.”
It’s both of these characterizations that are troublesome to the Morgan Hill City Council, the five members of which will consider their options for funding more police officers during a special workshop Wednesday night. Increasing housing density downtown may get another go, too.
Less than three months ago, voters disapproved of both strategies, which took the form of city measures in the November General Election.
A 2 percent utility users tax, which would have funded nine new police department positions including seven officers, was on the November ballot as Measure G. It failed with 9,384 votes to 5,103 votes. The council has wondered aloud whether the tax was misunderstood.
Councilman Greg Sellers said Election Night, and reconfirmed during an interview Monday, that any tax on the ballot needs to have a strong campaign backing it.
“I wouldn’t be willing to consider another utility users tax unless broad community support was demonstrated, and a broad coalition was identified to push the measure forward,” Sellers said, defining this broad coalition as “people willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work needed to move something like that forward.”
Councilwoman Marby Lee wondered whether it was as simple as that. Lee was against Measure G in its first vote, which established it as a general tax, since it wouldn’t be anchored to police services although all council members pledged to use the tax just for that. She preferred a special tax that could only be used for that specific purpose. Other council members preferred the general tax mostly because it only needed a majority of 50 percent plus one vote to pass, while the special tax would have required a two-thirds majority.
“I think part of it may be the public didn’t trust us to use the money for what we said it would go for,” she said. Lee referred to the $460,000 in furniture for the Development Services Center the council approved and its troublesome bidding process. “There was this questioning of financial stuff, especially in light of the budget we have now, especially with the economic times.”
Still, Lee wants to talk about funding police again.
“The general tax didn’t seem to work. I think we should talk about it again and at least consider a special tax. In that way we’re able to give the public confidence that we’re going to use the money the way we say we will.”
If the council were able to convince the public that any new tax revenue would be funneled directly to police services, they might have a hard time convincing them that they wouldn’t turn around and reroute other general fund money currently spent on police.
That’s because in between Measure G’s failure in November and the workshop tomorrow, council contemplated a budget reduction proposal in December that included dropping the police force from 39 to 36 officers, but adding two multi-service officers who perform the less dangerous police duties. Council members were quick to note that this idea didn’t come from them.
“That was staff’s recommendation,” Lee said. “Frankly, that was not something I was ever in favor of.”
The council put off budget cuts in the police department for now, but expect the issue to come up again this spring when reviewing next year’s budget. Police Chief Bruce Cumming has said he plans to keep the department status quo of 36 officers employed, although the current city budget allows funding for 39. The reason? He’s not sure the three vacant positions will be funded for long.
Meanwhile, Sellers said that Measure H was undone by a lack of campaigning. This measure failed by just 10 votes, 6,919 to 6,909.
“There’s a case to be made that increasing housing in the downtown core means decreasing (housing) in the neighborhoods,” he said. If people understood this, it would have a better chance of passing, Sellers said.
Council will hear possibilities for placing a second version of Measure H on a special election ballot Wednesday night, during their council meeting. Increasing housing downtown would make the city’s plans for downtown, which hinge on mixed-use projects that combine shops, offices and housing, much easier to realize.
The council will hear options for a special election in either June or November. According to the staff report, a June election would cost about $450,000, unless it was part of a statewide special election, which would drop the cost to about $130,000. If the council waited until November for a special election, the cost would be about $215,000.
UPCOMING:
What: Special MH City Council workshop
Up for discussion: How to pay for more police
When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Development Services Center, 17575 Peak Ave.
