Seven votes made the difference Tuesday as voters in San Juan
Bautista approved a half-cent sales tax seven months after a 1
percent hike failed.
Seven votes made the difference Tuesday as voters in San Juan Bautista approved a half-cent sales tax seven months after a 1 percent hike failed.
San Juan voters approved Measure U with 186 yes votes and 179 no votes – or 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent, according to unofficial election results. It will take San Juan’s sales tax to 8.5 percent in an effort to boost city services that have declined severely in recent years due to drained tourism revenues and an overall lackluster economy.
San Juan city officials had pushed for the measure, claiming it would create around $125,000 in added tax revenues each year.
San Juan has been hit hard in the last year after a crippling decline in tourism as well as the loss of a $3.8 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant to fix the local water system.
The money from Measure U will be added to the city’s general fund, and a committee will be formed to determine how to spend the added cash, San Juan Mayor George Dias said today. Police, fire, and community services departments, along with extended library hours, have been discussed as possible areas to benefit from Measure U funds.
Wendy Varga, owner of the Mariposa House Restaurant in San Juan, said she is a “semi-supporter” of the measure and that increasing taxes is not the key to pulling the city out of hard times.
“You’re not going to create any revenue if you can’t keep businesses in town,” Varga said. “My big problem was this money is general fund money. It’s makes me uneasy not knowing where it will go.”
