With New County And State Sales Taxes About To Hit That Include Local Road Repair Money, Should LB Council Adjust LB Sales Tax Measure A Spending To Restore More Police/Fire Units OR Use Built-In "Escape Clause" To Roll Tax Back Entirely?
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(March 30, 2017) -- Over the past year, Long Beach's City Council and Mayor have (1) supported a "blank check" sales tax increase that raised LB's sales tax rate above that of neighboring cities (Measure A, June 2016); (2) supported an L.A. County sales tax rate increases (Metro Measure M, Nov. 2016) and (3) supported Sac'to politicians who are preparing to impose a sales tax increase on gasoline (SB 1) and car registration fees (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)
All of these tax increases include sums for local road repairs. Under the circumstances, should the City Council (1) adjust LB Measure A sales tax spending to restore more than the 17 (out of 208) budgeted officers the Council has restored to date and restore Fire Engine 17 to Stearns Park Station 17, OR (2) invoke Measure A's "escape clause" that lets a Council majority (subject to a Mayoral veto that six Councilmembers can override) roll back the Measure A sales tax increase entirely?
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Measure A contains an "escape clause": Section 3.62.100: ...The City Council, by majority vote of the full Council, may lower the rate of the retail transactions and use tax adopted by this Chapter to 0%."
So...a Council majority has the power to roll back Measure A in whole or in part OR to adjust its current planned spending -- planned before Metro's tax and the gasoline sales tax which both include local road repair sums -- to allocate a greater amount of Measure A to restoring police and firefighter services for taxpayers.
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The Council voted (Austin absent that day) to show voters the following Measure A title/text as they marked their ballots: "CITY OF LONG BEACH PUBLIC SAFETY, INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR AND NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES MEASURE [all caps in original]. To maintain 911 emergency response services; increase police, firefighter/paramedic staffing; repair potholes/streets; improve water supplies; and maintain general services..."
Yes, the ballot title and text put public safety first. And it said "Increase police." Thus far, the Council has restored 19 of out of 208 budgeted officers erased since FY10. And "Increase...firefighter/paramedic staffing." Engine 8 and Rescue 12 are back but Fire Station 17 (Stearns Park) still lacks its fire engine which is the only apparatus capable of actually pouring water on a blaze.
In addition, on Feb. 23, 2016 the Council approved a non-binding resolution telling the public it was the Council's intent (as of Feb. 23, 2016) to prioritize spending Measure A revenue for "the costs of providing public safety services, consisting of: police patrol, response, investigation, apprehension and law enforcement, emergency 9-1-1 response, fire prevention and suppression services, paramedic services, and ambulance services" [and] the costs of improving and maintaining streets, sidewalks and alleys, improving and upgrading the City's water system for conservation, and improving and upgrading storm water storm drain systems." Yes, it put police and fire services first among priorities.
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So...with sales taxes about to increase because of County and state measures that include funds for local road repairs, do you want your Councilmember to (1) adjust Measure A spending to restore additional police officers and restore Fire Engine 17; or (2) use the "escape clause" to roll back the Measure A sales tax increase entirely; or (3) leave LB Measure A spending as previously planned (mainly for infrastructure?)
Fell free to let us (and everyone else) know below.
