CLOVIS, Calif (FOX26) — The Clovis City Council has voted to place a 1% tax hike on the November 5th ballot.
City Council Members agreed to put it on the ballot because they listened to the plea from the Clovis police and Fire Departments, which say they have been understaffed.
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“The number one thing people want to do is throw money at issues,” said a Clovis City Resident.
But Clovis city council agreed adding an additional 1% tax would help the city.
15 years ago we’re at the same number of officers that we had,” said Jordan Hunter the President of the Clovis Police Officer Association. “However, our city has grown by 40% and nearly 24 square miles in the city of Clovis, which means long response times for us to get there.
Hunter says this is their final straw.
“We’ve explored all other avenues out there as far as cutting expenses, looking at other ways to generate revenue, and right now, we are at a standstill,” he said.
If the measure passes, Clovis’ sales tax rate would be just shy of 9% and some people at the meeting weren’t to happy about that.
“Everybody is adding more money to what I have to pay, and I’m having trouble paying for what I already have,” said Bill Scott, a Clovis Resident. “I will gladly support this on one condition: every Clovis employee freezes their wages and benefits until we get it straightened out with our finances.”
But Clovis Fire Captain Chris Bridger says if someone dials 911 now, their response times are not as fast as they would like
If someone is in cardiac arrest, their chance of survival decreases 10% to 12% every minute,” he said.
Bridger says that not passing the bill could mean a life-or-death situation for someone in need of medical aid in Clovis.
Clovis city council members said they crunched the numbers on the city’s spending.
If they continue down the same path, the city will be over 14 million in debt in five years.
Tax Rates:
- Clovis – 7.98%
- Fresno – 8.35%
- Visalia – 8.5%
- Merced – 8.25%
