It appears as though the county and City of Hollister are continuing on separate paths for sales-tax measures on a 2016 ballot.
San Benito County, Hollister and San Juan Bautista officials met in a joint meeting Wednesday at the County Administrative Building over sales-tax options for next year’s ballot. There was no official action out of the meeting, other than a continued expectation that the county and city would separately ask voters for respective tax increases.
Supervisors have been exploring options for a possible sales-tax question on a 2016 ballot. They had talked about the potential of forming some kind of tax-sharing deal with Hollister, which has a 1 percent tax running through the spring of 2018, but that type of agreement seems off the table at this point.
That means it is likely the county and Hollister will float separate questions to voters next year, Mayor Ignacio Velazquez told the Free Lance.
“We would have to do our own as a city,” Velazquez said, adding how there is no chance of a special election in 2017 so the question would go on a ballot next year for the presidential cycle. “That is the path we’re going to be taking.”
The unincorporated parts of the county have a 7.5 percent rate. Hollister has an 8.5 percent rate. And San Juan Bautista has a 8.25 percent tax.
Hollister’s special 1 percent tax approved as Measure E in 2012 is set to expire in the spring of 2018. The city raises about $4 million annually from the tax and relies on it to balance its budget. The county has been facing multimillion-dollar deficits, averaging about $6 million annually in recent years, without a special tax.
County supervisors in recent meetings have discussed a range of possible proposed increases, while the Council of San Benito Governments overseeing local transit is considering its own, separate sales tax for roads.
