Menifee Council to Consider Tax to Fund More Police

In response to a growing concern over crime in the area and budgetary restrictions, the city councils of Temecula and Hemet on Tuesday approved November ballot measures proposing a 1 percent sales tax increase to help fund additional police and fire services.

A similar ballot measure will be considered Aug. 3 by the city council of Menifee, which could argue that its need for such a sales tax increase to fund public safety is as great or greater than any other city in Riverside County.

Menifee's crime rate is not as high as Hemet, where three people were killed in one day last week. Then on Tuesday, Hemet Police reported that an "angry mob of residents" hampered officers' efforts to assist a wounded woman in a city where tensions among residents and between residents and police are on the rise. According to a report released by the District Attorney's office earlier this year, violent crimes in Hemet increased 30 percent in 2015. That number appears to be increasing.

But at least Hemet has its share of vehicle license fees from the state to add to its budget. Menifee, which experienced a 17 percent increase in violent crimes in 2015, has been denied similar funding by Governor Jerry Brown.

The governor has continued to block efforts to restore an annual loss of $4.2 million in potential revenue to the city -- a loss created by legislation Brown approved in 2011 that denies revenue from vehicle license fees to four recently incorporated cities -- including Menifee.

According to Mayor Scott Mann, Menifee has been denied more than $20 million in revenue it would've received in VLF funds in the last five years -- funds that all cities in the state receive except Menifee, Wildomar, Jurupa Valley and Eastvale. As part of Brown's 2011-12 budget adjustments, SB 89 and AB 118 were established to divert that portion of VLF revenue to other state programs.

The City of Menifee pays $11.4 million per year to the Sheriff's Department for police service. When you include $8.3 million paid to the Fire Department, public safety makes up 64 percent of the city's $30 million general fund.

Considering all this, Mann said today he believes a ballot measure for a 1 percent sales tax increase is a necessity. That would increase the sales tax to 9 percent. He has said previously he would favor a proposal that includes a sunset clause, which would remove the increase when the need is considered met.

"Sadly, I see no alternative but to put this matter before Menifee voters, and I do not appreciate the position that Governor Brown has put us in," Mann said. "He took away a critical revenue stream in 2011 that city founders relied upon at incorporation in 2008. Simply put, approval of a 1 percent sales tax increase would replace that lost revenue and provide necessary funding to prevent further degradation of city services."

At the time of a 2014 report given to the City Council by former police chief Mike Judge, there were 10 to 15 officers a day on patrol in Menifee, and those officers are divided into three shifts. Those numbers are virtually unchanged today. That means that at any one time, there may be no more than five patrol officers working a city of nearly 90,000 covering about 50 square miles.

The City Council in April directed City Manager Rob Johnson to work with a consulting firm in setting up a series of surveys and other forms of outreach to determine what residents think about proposals being considered to fund additional police manpower. Options residents were asked to consider were a 1 percent sales tax increase; a 1 percent public safety sales tax; a utility user tax; and a ballot measure to determine whether residents want the city to create its own police department.

At the May 18 City Council meeting, Johnson referred to preliminary results reported by the firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates. He said of 400 registered voters surveyed, 55 percent considered a 1 percent sales tax a viable option. Johnson is scheduled to give an update on survey results at the Aug. 3 council meeting.

Menifee 24/7 is asking our readers to vote in our own survey on this subject. Please visit our Facebook page to vote in Menifee 24/7 Reader Poll 41 on whether you support a 1 percent sales tax to help fund public safety.