Endorsement: Half-cent sales tax should be renewed

Measure U still needed to ease the pain of state cuts|

“If you haven’t got a ha’penny then god bless you!” goes the familiar refrain to the holiday favorite “Christmas Is Coming.”

But, according to city officials, Christmas won’t be coming to Sonoma anytime soon if voters don’t renew the 5-year-old half-cent sales tax that’s about to expire.

At least that’s their warning if Measure U doesn’t pass on Nov. 8. Measure U is the city’s proposed extension of the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2011 as Measure J, which currently helps put Sonoma’s sales tax at 8.75 percent, exactly a half-cent above the county average.

And while, we don’t expect Sonoma’s stockings to be bare if Measure U doesn’t pass, it would mean city finances would be taking a step back into a hole it has been, and still is, trying to climb out of ever since the depths of the recession – which is why we think voters should support the Measure U tax renewal.

Measure J was passed five years ago, as cities throughout California were taking financial hits from two sides: the tax-revenue plunge brought by the Great Recession, and the 2012 state-mandated dissolution of redevelopment agencies. Redevelopment agencies had been part of a nearly 60-year-old program for cities to combat “blight,” an ambiguous term that generally meant funding infrastructure upkeep and preventative projects like public housing. Redevelopment brought millions to cities through property taxes – about $5 million to Sonoma in its final year, 2011 – revenue which property owners are still being taxed for, yet that money now goes to the state to be disbursed for other priorities, such as schools.

Those other priorities are all well and good, say city officials, but that still leaves Sonoma with a $5 million redevelopment deficit to fill, which means the half-cent sales tax remains a necessity. Last year, Measure J revenues were $2.2 million, which is what city officials estimate they’ll have to shave from the city’s $17 million budget if the Measure U renewal of the tax doesn’t pass.

Opponents of Measure U say the tax was originally sold to voters as temporary relief during a deep recession – passed to mitigate dire economic conditions that simply don’t exist anymore. They say the sales tax helped us through a bad economy and now should sunset as intended.

Former Sonoma City Councilmember Joanne Sanders wrote the ballot argument against Measure U. She points out that city revenues – the total of property tax, transient occupancy tax (or, TOT hotel fees) and pre-Measure J sales tax – is up $2.5 million from when the tax was passed in 2011. That’s $300,000 more than what Measure J brought in last year – thus, the tax is no longer needed, Sanders says.

However, all that means is that we’ve recovered from the recession – great news. But it doesn’t account for the nearly $5 million that disappeared with the redevelopment agencies.

Sanders says the city should have adjusted for that during the last five years – taking measures of austerity, with prudent cuts, consolidation of services and a freeze on creating new positions.

City Manager Carol Giovanatto, a staunch supporter of Measure U, says the city never initiated a laundry list of new cuts because the state promised that the redevelopment funds would be returned to municipalities through other means – a promise she says hasn’t been fulfilled and, in hindsight, likely won’t be.

If Measure U doesn’t pass and the city is looking at a $2.2 million budget deficit from the prior year, at stake is likely the low-hanging fruit – such as cuts to local emergency response departments, which is the city’s largest expenditure. We’d guess that the Community Fund grants, which deliver about $195,000 to local nonprofits, could also be on the chopping block.

We also don’t view putting a renewal of the tax before voters as the city going back on its word to sunset the tax after five years – Measure J will indeed come to its end as promised. But giving city residents the option of continuing on with another similar tax is perfectly justifiable; if it passes, voters will have an opportunity to consider the benefits of Measure U when it expires in 2022.

At this point in time, however, Sonoma leaders need to chart a course for city financing under the reality that redevelopment funds are not coming back. But to do that while losing an additional $2.2 million if Measure U fails would be a financial blow to the city, and the community.

We recommend a Yes on Measure U.

– Jason Walsh, editor

– John Burns, publisher

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