The city’s fiscal health is stable, but population growth
expected during the next 10 years will require the Morgan Hill City
Council to take a hard look at how to streamline services and also
increase funds through economic growth and other
”
revenue measures,
”
said Mayor Steve Tate in his first State of the City address
Monday Night.
Morgan Hill – The city’s fiscal health is stable, but population growth expected during the next 10 years will require the Morgan Hill City Council to take a hard look at how to streamline services and also increase funds through economic growth and other “revenue measures,” said Mayor Steve Tate in his first State of the City address Monday Night.
The city’s population stands at about 38,000 today but is expected to reach 48,000 by 2020, and the Morgan Hill Police Department is already stretched thinner than most departments in the Bay Area, with one of the lowest officer-to-resident ratios in the region. Meanwhile, the city’s budget continues to grow, augmented by the opening of the Centennial Recreation Center last October, which has been a smash hit in the eyes of many in community.
“There is a big question about how long we can maintain services at the current level in the face of that growth,” said Tate, 63, reading from a prepared speech to an audience of about 70 city officials and residents at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center on Monterey Road.
“Of particular concern are safety services, which are already quite stretched,” added Tate, who conducted a slide presentation during the speech. “We need to explore service requirements and seek public input on what specifically could justify a revenue measure, and what shape a measure should take.”
The mayor steered clear of the word “tax,” but he said the city council should engage the public in workshops to justify any “revenue measures” for the future, which may include initiating a ballot measure for a tax increase sometime down the road.
As for now, Tate said it is important for the city council to evaluate police and fire service levels this year to make sure departments are operating at maximum efficiency. He pledged the council would perform these studies by the end of the year.
Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming reacted to Tate’s comments by comparing public safety to infrastructure, saying investments should be made before “something bad happens.”
“It’s no secret … we need more police officers,” Cumming said after the mayor’s speech. “The city’s growing and we have about the same level of police officers as we did 15 years ago. The population has gone up and (crime) activity has gone up as the city has grown.”
Morgan Hill resident Diane Silveira said there could be “community buy-in” for a tax measure if voters are educated on the issues and feel confident the money will be used to improve values such as public safety.
“Take the power outage (last Wednesday) … it was five o’clock in the afternoon and we had a shortage of police officers covering the major areas on Monterey and Dunne,” Silveira said. “It was very visible to the community that we have a problem.”
Tate announced the council would seek ways to grow the city’s economic base this year, striving to add “one to three” car dealerships north of the Ford store on Dunne Avenue near U.S. 101 and bring more high-wage jobs to Morgan Hill.
Downtown development is another major focal point, Tate noted, adding a council workshop in March will address details for a $20 million investment in infrastructure projects. The projects, which could take the form of road and sewer improvements, will be funded by the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency, which is a tax district within the city that diverts property taxes that normally go to the county back to the city for capital improvement projects.
Tate said the Morgan Hill’s downtown could stand other improvements, including high-density housing projects with retail spaces at street level.
As to the Granada Theater on Monterey Road, the mayor said redeveloping the property is an issue the council will study in April, but Tate said the future of the privately owned property remains uncertain because market forces will play a crucial role.
“Most people want to revive the glory of yesterday by having the Granada live again in some form,” Tate said. “If not a theater, perhaps there is some other appropriate use. We are not making any absolute commitment that it will happen, but it is a definite focal point.”
Despite his forthright approach to future challenges, Tate’s speech also stuck a happy tone, highlighting several of the city’s recreational accomplishments in 2006 such as the opening of the Centennial Recreation Center, the addition of an off-leash dog park and completion of the first segment of a wildlife trail.
The $28 million Centennial Recreation Center, which houses a gym, indoor pool, workout rooms and wings for seniors and teens, is “another great addition to Morgan Hill’s community facilities,” Tate said, noting the facility is selling memberships at a faster-than-expected rate.
“Our operational partnership with the YMCA is definitely a success,” Tate remarked.
The mayor also made note of significant projects that got underway last year, such as construction of a 28,000 square-foot library on Peak Avenue scheduled to open this summer and the first phase of construction for an outdoor sports complex at the soccer park on Condit Road.
“What Steve brings as mayor is a recognition to succeed in the future,” said Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes. ” We have to build on the foundation of the past. We have fulfilled the promise to the community to build a library and a recreation center … we have balanced the budget at current staffing levels, but as the community continues to grow we can expect change. If we are to expand city service levels we’ll need new sources of revenue.”
