Merced’s public safety tax back on November ballot. Will voters keep it from expiring?
Merced voters are poised to face a big decision on their November election ballots — and whichever way the results play out, the outcome will represent a turning point for the future of the city’s essential services, officials say.
City staff last week presented Merced leaders with new polling data indicating whether local voters would support a Measure C renewal.
City Council members were faced with the decision of whether to include a renewal measure on the November ballot or wait for another election cycle.
Since it was passed by voters in 2006, the local half-cent sales tax has significantly bolstered Merced’s police and fire departments, as as well as public works projects like road and street improvements. Measure C was only granted a 20-year lifespan at the time and is slated to sunset in 2026.
“Tonight, there’s big decision for you to make,” City Manager Stephanie Dietz said while addressing the City Council last week. Dietz said that while she can’t guarantee the renewal will pass, survey results indicated the strongest support in polling history.
The City Council ultimately voted 6-1 to place Measure C renewal on the November ballot. Councilmember Jesse Ornelas cast the dissenting vote on account of the measure not including an affordable housing funding component.
After considering several options, the council chose to place the renewal measure on the ballot as an unchanged, half-cent tax. That means that if voters do support renewing Measure C come November, it won’t raise their taxes further.
A big difference from the last time voters were faced with Measure C is that this time, there’s no scheduled sunset. If the renewal passes, the local sales tax won’t expire unless it’s placed on a future ballot and voters choose to terminate it.
If a Measure C extension fails to pass in November, the city will have the opportunity to retry during future elections before the measure expires in 2026.
Stakes high for Measure C
In the lead up to putting a Measure C renewal on the ballot, Merced staff and elected officials have each emphasized that the stakes for the city are high.
“Measure C is incredibly important to our general fund, to not just public safety, but everything the general fund supports,” Mayor Matt Serratto said during last week’s City Council meeting.
In a Jan. 16 column in the Sun-Star, the mayor wrote that letting the measure expire would be “catastrophic” for city operations. Without Measure C dollars, police and fire funding would fall woefully short, Serratto previously told the Sun-Star.
City officials estimate that without locally-controlled funding for essential city services, Merced would face a $7 million annual budgetary shortfall, according to information previously provided by the city. It would also leave the roughly 30 police and fire department jobs funded by Measure C in a difficult bind.
“No matter what people feel about public safety in general, there is a place for public safety in every community,” Councilmember Delray Shelton said, adding that the city will be in a “world of hurt” if the tax isn’t extended. “There’s a lot riding on (Measure C).”
Approximately $88.1 million has been generated by Measure C since it took effect in 2006 and the start of this year, averaging between $4.5 million and $8.2 million annually.
Those funds go toward maintaining rapid response times to emergencies and fires, keeping up neighborhood police patrols, responding to gang activity, helping unhoused people find the services and keeping parks and public areas safe.
City Council considers housing affordability and homelessness tax
Merced officials used independent polling of city voters to gauge what a Measure C renewal should look like to garner the most support. Over 440 interviews were conducted June 3 through 12 with Merced residents in English and Spanish.
The City Council previously floated the possibility of raising additional funds for affordable housing and homelessness with an alternative ballot measure. Polling questions also measured residents’ support of that idea.
One survey question asked prospective voters whether they’d be likely to back a Measure C renewal that included funding for affordable housing and homelessness, in addition to the traditional public safety and road projects.
To do so, the measure would be boosted from a half-cent sales tax to one cent, resulting in an estimated $13 million annually.
Surveyed residents’ support for the combined one-cent sales tax was only marginally viable, Dietz said.
Another polling question split the housing and homelessness tax apart from Measure C into two half-cent measures to gauge support for each separately. The housing measure would raise funds for rental and first time home buyer assistance, affordable housing and homeless services.
Survey results demonstrated that residents more strongly endorsed each as a separate tax. However, an unchanged renewal of Measure C elicited better results than a new half-cent tax for housing and homelessness.
“There is a path forward for a dedicated housing measure. However, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure it remains viable,” Dietz said.
While discussing the polling results, a majority of City Council members voiced concerns over jeopardizing support for Measure C by including an additional housing tax in any form.
“Measure C needs to stand alone,” Councilmember Kevin Blake said. ”I can’t imagine people are going to be real excited about voting yes for additional taxes,” he added, noting that extending Measure C as-is will more likely appeal to residents already facing an uncertain fiscal climate.
Merced City Council members who have consistently voiced the strongest support for allocating more local dollars to affordable housing were also generally in agreement. For example, Councilmember Bertha Perez said she wasn’t on board with either raising taxes for residents or losing Measure C.
“I’m not willing to jeopardize not passing Measure C,” Perez said. “I think we should find a different solution for housing.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 1:30 PM.
