Editor’s note: for an updated version of this story, visit http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/city_local_government/tax-hike-goes-to-voters/article_aee7795e-1e5b-11e4-b37f-0017a43b2370.html.
After more than an hour of public comment, the Gilroy City Council approved placing a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot in a 5-1 vote. Councilman Peter Arellano was the lone dissenting vote and Councilman Perry Woodward was absent.
If approved by voters, Gilroy’s sales tax would jump from 8.75 to 9.25 and make the Garlic Capital the city with the highest sales tax in all of Santa Clara County. As a general-purpose sales tax measure, any potential revenue will go directly into the City’s General Fund, and it can be approved by a simple majority vote.
If the council wanted to set aside funding for specific programs, the threshold for voter approval would have bumped up to two-thirds of voters at the polls. Explaining why he was against the measure, Arellano said there is no guarantee what the funding from a general-purpose sales tax measure will actually pay for.
“This does not earmark any money for any program,” he said, during a phone conference with council members. “It doesn’t go to the parks and recreation department (and) it doesn’t go to the arts. It’s all at the will of the council.”
“People who have the money to shop outside of Gilroy will,” Arellano continued. “The working class and small business owners don’t always have that option.”
On the other hand, a majority of the council expressed support for the measure, with many saying they would prefer to let the voters decide when they take to the polls.
Mayor Gage painted a dire fiscal picture at the meeting, saying the City is “hanging by a thread” and that “there’s simply no money” to fix problems that have plagued Gilroy for decades, like broken sidewalks and unkempt streets. He first floated the concept of a “Quality of Life” measure last year, claiming it would be the most effective way to tackle a variety of capital improvement projects.
Funding for the Gilroy Police and Fire departments became a part of the discussion after an Oakland-based consulting firm, the Lew Edwards Group, completed a telephone survey of 400 Gilroy residents. Respondents were asked a broad range of questions, including what City services could benefit from additional funding.
“This is very much an investment in our city,” said Councilman Peter Leroe-Munoz.
