Hollister
– A 1 percent sales tax increase could be back on the ballot in
November.
Hollister – A 1 percent sales tax increase could be back on the ballot in November.
A similar tax hike was rejected by Hollister voters in 2006, but on Monday, the City Council will consider bringing the measure back in a special election. According to a report from City Manager Clint Quilter, the city needs the funds because of a structural budget deficit, one that’s caused cuts in virtually every department.
Many Hollister residents have complained about those cuts, which include staff reductions in the fire and police departments, reduced maintenance of parks and sound walls, and increased fees for youth sports and other recreation programs.
Hollister resident Susan Montgomery experienced those service cuts herself. She drove to City Hall on Friday to pay bills only to discover that the finance office – like most city departments – is open only from Monday to Thursday.
But Montgomery doesn’t see any reason to support a tax increase, even if it means city offices will be open five days a week.
“I know they’re cutting back on a lot of things … but it hasn’t really affected me,” she said.
In November 2006, the tax increase proposed – Measure R – was defeated 52 percent to 48 percent.
City Councilman Doug Emerson is a spokesman for the sales tax campaign, and he said Friday he’s confident the new measure will find more favor with local residents. The special election would cost an estimated $50,000.
“The last vote was very close, and that committee wasn’t really formed until October,” Emerson said.
The 2006 campaign consisted largely of city employees advocating for the measure in their personal time. Emerson said the new committee represents “a cross-section of diverse people,” including representatives from the school district, the police department, the fire department, and the business and real estate communities.
“We have to have it for a short-term financial Band-Aid,” he said.
Emerson doesn’t support “raising taxes to solve problems,” he said, but he thinks the increase will help tide the city over until its financial fortunes improve with the end of the building moratorium.
“Hollister’s going to be financially OK, but it’s going to be four years or so before we see that revenue,” Emerson said.
Planning Commissioner and architect David Huboi headed the Yes-on-R committee, and he’s co-chairing the campaign this time around. The Yes-on-R committee raised only $2,044, but Huboi is hoping to obtain “at least 10 times that amount” for the new ballot initiative, likely to be called Measure T.
Hollister’s finances are ailing due to the moratorium, increased retirement and health insurance costs for city employees and an increase in the money the state takes from local revenues, according to Quilter’s report.
Councilwoman Eugenia Sanchez, who joined the council in December 2006, said she plans to approve the election.
“This is something we really need, and I hope the voters support it,” she said.
