The Stockton City Council has adopted an ordinance last week to extend for 10 years a three-quarter-cent transaction and sales use tax that was passed by voters as Measure A in 2013.
The tax extension, which is part of the 9 percent sales tax people pay when making purchases at a store in the city, was approved Tuesday last week in a 6-1 vote with City Councilmember Michele Padilla dissenting.
According to city officials, proceeds from the tax are used to pay for law enforcement, crime prevention services such as the Office of Violence Prevention and other services for residents, businesses, and property owners.
Stockton officials said the measure has been instrumental in assisting the city with restoring various non-public safety essential services that were eliminated as part of a process after the city filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
The Measure A tax was set to sunset, or expire, on March 31, 2024 unless extended. An extension required two public hearings prior to a vote to demonstrate that the tax is still necessary, and that employee compensation is not excessive.
The City Council held the first hearing in November and the second at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We had over $90 million in budget cuts that had to be implemented prior to the bankruptcy so Measure A was part of fiscal sustainability,” said Kimberly Trammel, chief financial officer for the city of Stockton. “It was also part of the implantation of the Marshall plan on crime which was an initiative started in 2012 to reduce violence overall.”
Stockton PD on a ‘hard hit’
Trammel said on average, the tax has brought in $36 million to the general fund each year that it has been in place and is about 17 percent of the city’s general fund revenues.
Without the extension, Trammel said the Stockton Police Department would be most affected.
“No matter which way you do it, the Police Department is going to be hard hit because they’re 55 percent of the city’s general fund,” Trammel said.
City officials said possible outcomes of not renewing the tax would be reducing police force and response times, the effective elimination of Office of Violence Prevention, closure of three fire stations, reduction of library hours, and the closure of the Oak Park Ice Rink.
Councilmember Dan Wright said the tax was a lifesaver for the city and agreed with Trammel.
City Manager Harry Black told the councilmembers that the city’s auditor had reviewed and proposed a set of agreed-upon procedures for making sure most of the funds from the tax would go to the Stockton Police Department, the city said in a statement.
The lives that have been changed — the people we heard from tonight who shared their stories this evening — brought tears to my eyes. Some of those kids might even be the next mayor, police officer or accountant.
Mayor kevin lincoln
Many speakers during public hearing on the agenda item pleaded with the council to help continue the funding for the Office of Violence Prevention by voting yes on the measure.
People who had dealt with violent acts in the city shared stories about what the Office of Violence Prevention had done for them and said they were needed in the community.
“The lives that have been changed — the people we heard from tonight who shared their stories this evening — brought tears to my eyes,” said Mayor Kevin Lincoln. “Some of those kids might even be the next mayor, police officer or accountant.”
