Sonoma City Council unanimously approved a resolution to add a sales tax increase measure to the Nov. 5 ballot for the city of Sonoma at the July 17 City Council meeting.
If approved by voters, Sonoma’s sales tax would increase by half a percent, raising it from 9% to 9.5%. The measure would add a half penny in tax on each taxable dollar spent.
Sonoma City Manager David Guhin provided background information on the proposed sales tax increase, the city’s current budget and the sales tax cap before the measure was approved for the November ballot.
Guhin revisited the city budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which was unveiled during the June 19 City Council meeting.
Impacts to budget include a decrease in the projected sales tax and transient occupancy tax, an increase in California Public Employees’ Retirement System unfunded liability, an increase in police and fire contracts, and additional budget requests.
The budget of $47.2 million includes a combined operating and capital improvement program and will draw on the city’s General Fund reserves of $13.3 million. The potential sales tax measure would bring an additional $3 million in city revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
“Before coming to you with a recommendation, we wanted to see what kind of appetite was out there from the community and make sure you had all the information,” Guhin said, addressing council. “The budget information, the polling information and the process information. And then you can decide what you want to do moving forward.”
Jessica Polsky-Sanchez of EMC Research presented council with an overview of voter polling, a survey of 200 Sonoma City residents. Polling results indicated a majority ruling of approving a sales tax increase for the city.
City Council’s questions and concerns were addressed by Guhin, Polsky-Sanchez, Sonoma City Attorney David J. Ruderman, and Barry Barnes of Orinda-based consulting firm Team CivX.
Polsky-Sanchez presented EMC’s multimodal polling methodology, which incorporated both live telephone and online interviews. EMC is a full-service market research and data analytics firm.
Surveys were offered in both English and Spanish and were conducted between March 24 and April 7. The sample size of 200 local voters carries an overall margin of error of plus or minus 6.93% points, indicating a low degree of uncertainty in the survey results.,
Polling questions included how voters feel about the direction the city’s going in, how they would rate the overall job of the city, whether they believe the city has a great need for money or not, and what their sentiment around taxes broadly is.
Fifty-seven percent said the city of Sonoma is doing a good or excellent job overall, 62% feel Sonoma has some or a great need for more money, and 73% somewhat or strongly agree it’s crucial to have high-quality city services, even if this requires raising taxes.
Fifty-five percent somewhat or strongly agree that they trust the city to properly manage their tax dollars, and 41% somewhat or strongly agree that they generally oppose increases to taxes, regardless of what they are used for.
Initial support for a potential sales tax measure was at 57% and after learning additional information about projects that could be funded, benefits, and the need for funding, 59% voted yes. After presenting what voters might hear from an opponent of the measure, 51% voted yes.
The survey asked voters if additional information about accountability and infrastructure benefits of the measure were convincing or not.
These points included the fact that the measure would require independent and annual audits, as well as public disclosure of all spending to ensure funds are properly used; and that by law, revenue cannot be taken by the state, ensuring tax dollars stay local to benefit Sonoma residents.
In addition, by law, essential purchases like groceries and medicine are exempt from the sales tax to help ensure the measure is not a burden to those on fixed incomes.
The survey also highlighted that the longer local roads, sidewalks, parks and cemeteries go without repair, the more it will cost to fix them later. The measure would prevent expensive deferred maintenance, which would save money in the long run and make the city a safer place.
The measure will help make needed upgrades to the city’s aging public infrastructure, including repaving streets, repairing sidewalks and improving traffic and pedestrian safety. The measure will also provide safety upgrades and maintenance of the Sonoma Plaza to help local businesses thrive.
The measure would ensure all who visit and shop in the city pay their share to enhance and maintain local services, not just Sonoma residents. The measure would also provide more safety for locals and small businesses by securing and maintaining crime prevention efforts, supporting fast emergency response, and improving lighting downtown.
It would also allow Sonoma to improve and expand its parks, recreation and arts programs including services for youth and seniors, and upgrade lighting, playground equipment and sports fields.
The majority said each of these points were very convincing when considering the potential ballot measure.
Key voter issues and top funding priorities that the measure would support were emergency response, public safety and maintaining evacuation routes.
Adapting to impacts of climate change, enhancing recreation programs for youth and seniors, supporting local food programs and homelessness services, improving traffic safety for bicyclists, enhancing services to support local businesses, enhancing the Plaza and city parks and adding capacity to the cemeteries were also voter priorities.
City Council designated Sonoma Mayor John Gurney and Vice Mayor Patricia Farrar-Rivas to author the argument in favor of the measure, authorizing them to file a rebuttal to any timely filed argument against the measure.
The Council introduced the ordinance that will amend Sonoma Municipal Code Chapter 3.12 governing the city’s transactions and use tax, which is subject to approval by voters and would raise the general sales tax to half a percent.
Information regarding the potential sales tax increase can be found at https://sonomacity.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=8203.
You can reach Staff Writer Emma Molloy at emma.molloy@sonomanews.com.
