A citizen oversight committee will stand watch over any potential revenue of the general-purpose sales tax measure on the ballot, following a unanimous vote by the City Council Sept. 29.
Seven citizens—a group of volunteers chosen by the council—will be tasked with reviewing all expenditures throughout the life of the half-cent measure, if it passes, according to City Administrator Tom Haglund. Measure F would increase Gilroy’s sales tax rate from 8.75 to 9.25 percent and it would expire in 15 years.
At the meeting, Mayor Don Gage stressed that a majority of the revenue will be spent on capital projects—from street and sidewalk repair to repairs of neighborhood parks. Since it’s a general-purpose measure, all revenue flows into the city’s coffers and can be legally spent on any general purpose.
“It goes into the General Fund, yes, but you’ve got to trust the people who are up here that you elect,” Gage said, adding that the priorities of the community will guide where the funding goes.
Some potential projects topping the council’s to-do list were those supported by a majority of respondents to a city-paid survey last year, including repairing cracked and broken sidewalks, curbs and gutters; repaving deteriorating streets and fixing potholes; modernizing aging 9-1-1 emergency communications systems; expanding gang and crime prevention services and improving police protection; maintaining emergency response times, expanding after-school programs for at-risk youth, repairing downtown’s unreinforced masonry buildings and repairing neighborhood parks.
If the sales tax is approved by a simple majority of voters—50 percent, plus one vote—Gage said the city will begin chipping away at the list and set funding priorities on an annual basis.
While the committee will oversee how the revenue is spent, it’s up to the council to decide which projects receive funding. Nothing is set in stone yet, Gage assured, and he said residents will have the opportunity to publicly discuss the first-funded projects.
“I think this is a clear indication we’re willing to work with people to spend it on the needs of the community,” Council Member Cat Tucker said, on the formation of the committee.
“We’re not trying to fool anybody,” Gage added. “We’re being perfectly up front and honest and we’ll have public meetings. People will be able to come in here and make recommendations. We’re not going to be spending a lot of Measure F money on things people don’t want.”
Gilroy resident Susan Mister spoke up during the public comment period and said she fears the committee will only serve as a body to review financial decisions, not help make them.
“The committee is not going to address where the money is going to be spent prior to the expenditures,” she said. “I’m totally concerned about that.”
While the committee “can certainly make recommendations,” Gage replied it’s ultimately the council’s responsibility to make the calls and answer to residents.
According to Haglund, the committee’s structure is modeled after the Library Bond Oversight Committee, which kept watch over the funding received from a 2008 bond measure while the Gilroy Library was under construction.
The citizen oversight committee would report to the council on a quarterly basis on the funds the measure collected and how that money was spent, he said.
While the council could have identified which capital projects Gilroy needed the most in the measure’s language—that would have effectively bumped up the voter approval threshold to two-thirds—Gage said the general-purpose allows for greater flexibility over the course of 15 years.
Mister said she sees the measure as a “blank check” for local government.
“I don’t know what the council will look like in five years, 10 years or 15 years or if they’re still going along with current priorities,” she said.
“Priorities can change,” Gage replied. “If this were a bond, it wouldn’t raise the money we need to get all of this done. Once you say exactly what the money is going to be spent on, even if something else comes up, you can’t spend the money on anything else.”
The measure, if approved by voters Nov. 4, will collect between $5.9 and $7 million a year, according to city estimates. Once a revenue stream is established, Gage said the city can then incur debt against the revenue as a way to frontload certain projects and ensure they get done.
“If the sales tax doesn’t pass—which is in the voters’ hands now—we will not be able to do the 9-1-1 communications system,” Council Member Terri Aulman said. “We will not be able to fix the streets and sidewalks. If we have to do something like that, we may have to cut into areas that will cut services for the community. It’s not a doom and gloom situation; I’m just saying there is no there is no general fund money or reserve money we can pull and do these things.”
“We will be good stewards and we will listen to the community because the community are the ones who elect us. We’re here to do the job for them, not for ourselves,” Aulman added.
