Hollister
– With less than a month to go before the Nov. 7 election,
supporters say they are starting to
”
spread the word
”
about Measure R, which is intended to eliminate the city’s $2.7
million budget deficit through a 1 percent sales tax increase.
Hollister – With less than a month to go before the Nov. 7 election, supporters say they are starting to “spread the word” about Measure R, which is intended to eliminate the city’s $2.7 million budget deficit through a 1 percent sales tax increase.
Raising taxes is usually a tough sell – likely exacerbated by the city’s recent increase in sewer and water rates – but political consultant Robert Rivas, who is helping to organize the campaign, said convincing people isn’t the measure’s biggest hurdle.
“I don’t think it will be a challenge to educate voters,” said Rivas, who is also on the Free Lance’s editorial board. ” It’s more of a race against the clock.”
City Manager Clint Quilter said he could not officially take a position on the measure, which the City Council voted unanimously to put on the ballot in July, but he has asked department heads to create contingency plans to cut services if Measure R doesn’t pass.
“It’s going to impact all areas,” Quilter said. “What this measure does is let the community decide whether to reduce services or go ahead and increase revenue.”
These service cuts – according to city officials – could include elimination of all but emergency maintenance to parks and streets, additional reduction of recreation programs, closure of the Veterans’ Memorial Building, elimination of all fire prevention activities and reduction of fire response capability.
Rivas said he was asked to lead the Measure R campaign but had to decline due to a lack of time. Instead, architect David Huboi has taken the chairman’s spot on the campaign. Huboi said he heard about the measure through his position on the city’s planning commission.
“It affects everyone in the community, from all nationalities and walks of life,” he said. “It’s essential to keeping the city solvent.”
A big part of Huboi’s interest in the measure, he said, comes from his involvement in the city’s recently revised general plan. According to him, many of the plans for “smart growth” would be moot if Measure R fails.
“For (the goals of the general plan) to be achievable, we need to feel safe in our environment and our community,” Huboi said, and he argued that won’t be possible if the city cuts services.
He acknowledged that some voters are worried that the city will misspend the money, but Huboi said the current deficit isn’t the city government’s fault.
“It’s not a matter of pointing your finger; it’s a matter of finding solutions,” he said.
Measure R will increase the local sales tax rate from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent, increasing the city’s portion of sales tax revenue from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent and generating, according to City Attorney Stephanie Atigh’s impartial analysis, an estimated $4 million annually.
This would put Hollister’s sales tax at the same level as Santa Clara County’s. Huboi argued that the city’s general fund revenue is particularly low: $327 per capita for fiscal year 2005-2006, compared to $780 in Gilroy and $1,519 in Monterey. This difference, he said, is largely due to the structure of the property tax and the Hollister’s lack of a utility user tax.
If passed, Measure R would also create a citizen’s oversight committee to annually examine how the revenue is being spent. The tax increase would begin on April 1, 2007, and end five years later.
When asked if the city might put another measure on the ballot to continue the tax increase in five years, Quilter said, “I don’t foresee at all that we’d need to do that to balance the budget.”
He added that the city’s deficit has been decreasing, and that the budget should be balanced by the time the increase terminates.
According to City Clerk Geri Johnson, there is no formal opposition to the measure, and no one submitted an argument against the measure for inclusion in the sample ballot.
Anthony Ha covers local news for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566, ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
