Council Approves Ballot Measure on Sales Tax Increase

A large crowd attended Wednesday night's City Council meeting, where a sales tax ballot measure was approved. Menifee 24/7 photo

The Menifee City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to place on the Nov. 8 ballot a measure proposing a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund public safety and vital city services.

The measure, as worded by city staff in its proposal to the council, was titled "Menifee public safety / traffic congestion relief / vital city services measure." Language of the approved ballot measure includes, in part, "To reduce traffic congestion; improve/repair local interchanges/overpasses/streets/roads/bridges/potholes; maintain local police/fire protection/paramedics/911 emergency medical response times; prevent cuts to senior/disabled/youth programs; and provide other general services."

As a condition of the City Council's approval of the ballot measure, city attorney Jeffrey Melching was directed to add a clause stating that if the measures passes in November, the City Council would re-evaluate the tax increase every five years and determine whether to create another ballot measure asking voters to discontinue it. This was council's suggested alternative to a sunset clause of 10 or 20 years, which was a subject of debate in the media in recent days.

City officials acknowledge that Menifee is far short of the police services needed from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, with which it contracts. The proposal for a 1 percent sales tax increase was a result of that concern. Currently, 64 percent of the city's general fund goes to public safety, yet city officials say more funding is needed to add to the police force.

However, the ballot measure approved Wednesday night did not stipulate how much of the sales tax revenue would be used to pay for additional police officers. The term "vital services" is open to interpretation.

In his presentation to the city council before the vote was taken, City Manager Rob Johnson said the city already has cut $1.2 million from the 2016-17 budget and still can't afford additional police services. He made the argument that there is nowhere else to cut the budget and that the sales tax increase is the only option.

The staff presentation also included a report by Adam Sonenshein of Fairbank, Maslin, Maulin, Metz and Associates, which was contracted by the city to conduct a survey of registered voters regarding the proposed sales tax increase. Approximately 700 registered voters were contacted in a phone survey. According to Sonenshein's report, 72 percent of those polled supported a measure funding "vital city services."

This is in stark contrast to a reader survey conducted by Menifee 24/7. Of the nearly 500 readers responding, 62 percent said they would not be in favor of such a sales tax increase. However, none of those responding attended Wednesday night's meeting. All 11 people speaking during the public comments section of this item supported the sales tax increase. This group included three developers, two Chamber of Commerce board members, a former Menifee city clerk, a former Menifee police chief and two representatives of the Riverside County Building Industry Association.