SAN LEANDRO — The City Council has decided not to place a parcel tax that would increase funding for police and firefighters on the ballot this November, aiming instead for a special election in June of next year.
More time is needed to gather public input to craft a tax voters would support, the council decided.
The move to hold off also came after trustees with the San Leandro Unified School District indicated it was interested in placing a tax before voters in November, which could make having an additional tax on the ballot for first-responders a hard sell.
“The timing is really the critical challenge in front of us at this point,” interim City Manager Jeff Kay told the council last month. “Could we technically complete the task necessary to get something like this on the ballot this year? Probably. Could we do the job we think it deserves? We have some serious concerns with that.”
The tax would need a two-thirds majority to pass. The deadline to get on the November ballot is Aug. 10.
The council initially decided to begin the process of asking voters what they might support regarding a tax if unions representing police and firefighters helped pay for the effort.
But on May 21, the council opted to wait before possibly putting something on the ballot, despite the unions offering to contribute money toward a survey.
“I don’t want our public safety to suffer from this,” Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter said. “I think this is an idea we need to support. I am not sure it needs to be supported now.”
Holding off will allow more time to engage residents on how a tax should be structured, including through public forums, and it would give time for the city to adopt a budget that could help sway voters by demonstrating fiscal responsibility, according to city officials.
School district Trustee Monique Tate welcomed the decision to wait.
“We as a board voted unanimously to adhere to the community’s outcry about considering a parcel tax,” Tate said. “And so we want to do our due diligence to support our constituents, and consider it and meet the needs of the community.”
San Leandro voters have supported tax measures five times since November 2010. But they rejected a parcel tax in 2004 that would have benefited police and firefighters.
“We probably have some work to do to convince voters that the city is also serious — and I know that we are and that we already have begun working on this — that we are serious about containing those expenditures, as well,” Kay said.
Just how much money a parcel tax would raise depends on how the rates are calculated, such as whether on property size or its use, and whether seniors and others might be offered an exemption.
The amount generated could range from $3 million to $6 million annually based on a tax from $65 to $140 per parcel, according to Deputy City Manager Eric Engelbart.
The money could go toward purchasing police and firefighter equipment and toward modernizing buildings, Engelbart said.
“Many of our fire stations here in the community were constructed many decades ago,” he said. “Those facilities are showing their age and they are in need of upgrades.”