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Welcome to the city council

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>> special meeting this Monday evening,

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» special meeting this Monday evening,

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January 12th. Uh, city clerk, may you

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please call the role?

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>> Certainly. Mayor Lorraine, council

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» Certainly. Mayor Lorraine, council

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member Diaz Nash,

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>> yes.

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» yes.

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>> Council member Frio Gditzky

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» Council member Frio Gditzky

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>> here.

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» here.

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>> Deputy Mayor Fernandez

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» Deputy Mayor Fernandez

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>> here.

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» here.

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>> Mayor Lorraine

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» Mayor Lorraine

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>> here.

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» here.

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>> And council member Newsome

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» And council member Newsome

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>> here.

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» Thank you. I'll just ask uh city

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colleagues and staff to please silence

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and turn off uh your phones and devices

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for the meeting going forward. Welcome.

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We are excited to be here in person with

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options for those who choose not to be

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in person to still participate

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virtually. This meeting is being held at

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the Sanonteo Main Public Library due to

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the construction at city hall.

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I'd like to share a few logistical

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reminders to help our meeting here run

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smoothly. So, for those in the room,

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please note that after 8:00, the library

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closes. Staff asks that everyone exit

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through the back doors behind the

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seating here, located directly behind

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the room. Uh, with regard to parking at

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the library, after 8:00 p.m., the

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stairwell to the parking garage is

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locked. Attendees will need to use the

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elevator and select level P1 or P2 to

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access the garage

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z and that would be outside. So you

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still go out this way and there's an

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elevator. Just know that the stairwell

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is locked. Zoom attendees, please check

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your microphone volume before

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participating in public comment. We have

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MCTV here tonight helping us out and

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they will continue monitoring audio to

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ensure that there is clear sound for all

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participants. Thank you to MCTV

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and thank you all for your cooperation

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and for helping us maintain an efficient

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and accessible meeting environment.

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There are several ways to participate.

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For those attending in person, you can

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complete a yellow request to speak slip

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and hand it to the city clerk.

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If participating remotely, you can use

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the raise your hand feature in Zoom and

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you will be called on at the appropriate

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time when we have public comment periods

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for items. If you're calling in via

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phone, uh please press star9 to raise

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your hand and then when you're called

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upon, you can press star six to unmute.

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These options for public comment will

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remain available until I close public

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comment period for each specific item.

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If you're joining us via YouTube, uh

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members of the public watching on

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YouTube, if you wish to provide live

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comment, unfortunately, we don't

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currently have that functionality within

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YouTube. Uh we just have it through

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Zoom. So, please join the meeting

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through the Zoom webinar using the

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access information listed on the agenda.

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So, if you go to our website, city of

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samonteo.org, and find our uh meeting

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there, the Zoom link information is in

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the agenda.

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Thank you for your patience with that.

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Now, we will move on to our study

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session item for the special meeting,

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potential ballot measures for November

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2026, survey results and council

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direction. Uh, we have a presentation

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from Mr. Zachary Rita, senior management

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analyst with the city manager's office.

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Mr. Rita, please.

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» Good evening, Mayor, City Council. My

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name is Zach Raa, senior management

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analyst, and we are joined virtually

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tonight, but with by Timothy McCclar,

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president of True North Research.

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The purpose of our study session tonight

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is uh staff is seeking direction from

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council on whether to proceed with

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education and outreach on a potential

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ballot measure and also it's an

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opportunity to receive a report from

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true true north research and Timothy um

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on a a survey that was conducted um and

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it will help identify the features of

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the measures that resonate with voters.

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So, here are the four options for city

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council consideration. Number one,

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should the city proceed with education

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and outreach on the sales tax measure

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and return to council for decision

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whether to place it on the November 2026

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ballot? Number two, same language except

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swap sales tax measure for general

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obligation bond. Number three, both

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sales tax measure and general obligation

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bond. And number four is should the city

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not proceed with education and outreach

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on either the sales tax measure or the

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general obligation bond.

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So just quickly some background on how

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we got to today. uh in June of 25 uh the

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budget was approved with uh structural

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deficit and uh to respond to that in

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August of 2025 the city council met and

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reviewed uh the revenue measure options

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and provided direction to continue

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exploring bond and sales tax feasibility

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for the November 26 election.

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uh that was the direction that staff and

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True North Research needed to begin

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designing and and ultimately conducting

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a revenue measure feasibility study

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which was conducted in November of 25.

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Uh and that really focused on the the

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bond and the sales tax measure. And then

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just last week, the city council ad hoc

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subcommittee met and recommended to

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continue educating and informing the

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community about the potential quarter

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cent sales tax measure.

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At this time, I'll pass it over to

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Timothy uh to provide uh uh the results

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of the revenue measure feasibility

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study.

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>> Great. Uh thank you, Zach. Can uh just

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» Great. Uh thank you, Zach. Can uh just

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want to make sure you've got my audio on

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that end.

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>> Yes, sir.

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» Yes, sir.

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>> Okay, great. Well, good evening, mayor

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» Okay, great. Well, good evening, mayor

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and members of council. Uh Tim McCclar,

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president of True North Research. Um,

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we're a firm that uh for about 25 years

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has specialized in working with uh

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cities as well as other public agencies

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around the state and uh using surveys to

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help them develop a statistically

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reliable understanding of the

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communities and the customers that they

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serve. One of the areas we really

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specialize in is a revenue measure

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feasibility studies like what we're

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going to be talking about here tonight

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where the goal is to understand if it's

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feasible to move forward with some type

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of revenue measure. And if it is

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feasible to use the research to help

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guide how you might go about structuring

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that measure in a way that's going to be

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consistent with the type measures that

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your community is uh interested in

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supporting. Um so I I've got some slides

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here I'm going to walk through. If you

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have questions or comments along the

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way, uh, feel free to jump in and I'll

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also obviously be available to answer

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questions on the back of the

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presentation as well. So, uh, before we

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get into the results, uh, helpful to

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take a quick moment to review the

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purpose of the study as well as the

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methodology. Uh, as a revenue measure

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feasibility study, we're really trying

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to address the three bullets that you

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see here. The first is to answer that

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basic question of is it feasible? And

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what I mean by that is if you as a

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council were to take the um action of

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placing a measure on an upcoming ballot,

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does it have a reasonable chance of

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success? Uh when we do find that it's

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feasible, the second bullet kicks in

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gear, which is to use the research to

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help understand how might you go about

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structuring a measure in a way that it's

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consistent with the type of measure that

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your community is interested in

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supporting. There's a lot of components

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to a revenue measure uh of any stripe.

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Um whether it be a bond or a sales tax,

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it's, you know, how much is this going

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to cost me? uh what uh types of services

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or improvements would be funded by the

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measure, what types of accountability

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provisions might be built into the

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measure, etc. So, there's a lot of

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important questions that you as a

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council would ultimately need to answer

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before you placed a measure on the

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ballot, and the research can help guide

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those uh those uh helping you with um

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with those uh answers. And then thirdly,

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uh the research is an opportunity for us

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to understand how uh information

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ultimately shapes voters's opinions

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about your proposal and that in turn can

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help guide uh city communications. Next

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slide please. So in terms of the

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methodology or how we went about

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conducting the study, we use the same

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methodology here that we always use when

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we're doing revenue measure feasibility

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studies. And the first thing we want to

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ask ourselves is what election

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environment do we anticipate that this

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measure is going to be on? The reason

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for that is different elections have

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different turnouts and as you expand or

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shrink turnout, you could get a somewhat

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different profile to the participating

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voters in that election. In this case,

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we're looking at a potential November

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2026 measure. And so, we identified all

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of the individuals in the city that we

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uh are known as likely November voters

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based on when they register to vote uh

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in the community as well as elections.

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They've taken advantage since that

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point. And we used a process called

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stratified and clustered random sampling

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to choose a representative sample of

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these likely November voters for our

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survey. Um by using stratified and

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clustered random sampling, what it

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ensures is at the end of this process,

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we have a sample that matches the

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November universe on all the dimensions

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that tend to drive how voters behave

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when it comes to revenue measures. So

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the balance by age and gender,

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partisanship, household party type,

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where they live within the community,

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the balance in our sample matches the

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balance in that likely November

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universe. And that's really one of the

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keys to making sure that this research

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is reliable. Once we pulled our sample,

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we used three different recruiting

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methods, email, text, and telephone.

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Everything's pin protected so that only

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those individuals who were randomly slam

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uh sampled and sent an invitation to

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participate in the survey could do so.

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They can complete the survey one time

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only. they had the option of taking it

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either online or by telephone as well as

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00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:38,959
in English or Spanish, whichever was

278
00:09:38,959 --> 00:09:40,959
their preference. Um, we had actually

279
00:09:40,959 --> 00:09:43,600
set out and were contracted to do 600

280
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,080
completed interviews. Uh, we walked back

281
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,000
in the door with over a thousand. Uh,

282
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:49,920
the reason for that is I always have to

283
00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:51,360
make some estimates about what do I

284
00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:52,720
think the productivity and response

285
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:54,720
rates going to be to the survey in a

286
00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,640
community. I tend to air on the more

287
00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,880
conservative side. Um, here we just got

288
00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,399
a much better response to the

289
00:10:00,399 --> 00:10:03,839
invitations than I was anticipating. And

290
00:10:03,839 --> 00:10:05,440
uh the benefit of that is we have about

291
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,480
an extra 400 interviews to play with. Uh

292
00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,080
which is great because one of the things

293
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:11,839
we're doing in this study is what's

294
00:10:11,839 --> 00:10:15,120
called a split sample uh study where

295
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:16,640
because we're looking at a potential

296
00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,320
bond measure as well as a potential

297
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,880
sales tax measure. Um research has shown

298
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,640
that you want to split your samples so

299
00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,880
that half get one version, half get the

300
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,040
other. That's the best way to get a

301
00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,680
clean read on uh the potential support

302
00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:32,480
for each one of those measures. And so

303
00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,200
we took our,2 interviews, split them in

304
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:36,959
half. And what that means is that for

305
00:10:36,959 --> 00:10:39,360
questions that were answered by all uh

306
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,600
1,2 respondents, we have a margin of

307
00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,279
error due to sampling of plus or minus

308
00:10:43,279 --> 00:10:47,120
3% at the 95% confidence level. But even

309
00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,440
when we split it in half and so those

310
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,200
questions that are specific to a bond or

311
00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,440
specific to a sales tax, we still have a

312
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,120
margin of error that meets the academic

313
00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:56,720
standard for statistical liability which

314
00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:59,592
is plus or minus in this case 4.3% at

315
00:10:59,592 --> 00:11:01,120
[clears throat] the 95% confidence

316
00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:02,959
level. So what this basically means is

317
00:11:02,959 --> 00:11:04,480
whether we're looking at a bond or a

318
00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,120
sales tax related questions, we can be

319
00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,279
95% confident that the results in our

320
00:11:09,279 --> 00:11:12,079
survey are within 4.3% of what we would

321
00:11:12,079 --> 00:11:14,160
have found had we spoken with all of

322
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,880
your likely November voters.

323
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,600
Okay, so with that, next slide, we jump

324
00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,000
into the results. Um, we like to open up

325
00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,600
the revenue measure feasibility studies

326
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,200
with a few warm-up questions that kind

327
00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,640
of get folks thinking about their

328
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,200
community, uh, before we get to the the

329
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:30,959
issue of the revenue measure itself. And

330
00:11:30,959 --> 00:11:32,959
so, uh, the first question this series

331
00:11:32,959 --> 00:11:34,720
simply asks them to tell us how they

332
00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,560
would rate the, uh, overall quality of

333
00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,480
of life in the community. Would they say

334
00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,560
it's excellent, good, fair, poor, or

335
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,880
very poor? Uh as you can see here on the

336
00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,279
slide, we've got 86% of respondents who

337
00:11:45,279 --> 00:11:47,360
rated the overall quality of life in the

338
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,600
city as excellent or good. Um this is

339
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,360
actually a really positive result when

340
00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,920
it with respect to a revenue measure. We

341
00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,079
tend to find that and I get to do this

342
00:11:56,079 --> 00:11:57,279
work around the state for a lot of

343
00:11:57,279 --> 00:11:58,800
different communities. We tend to find

344
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:00,160
that in the communities where voters

345
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,760
have a high opinion of the quality of

346
00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,240
life in their community already that

347
00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,480
they are more inclined to support

348
00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,480
revenue measures that are geared around

349
00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,240
maintaining that level of quality of

350
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:11,839
life, maintaining the services that

351
00:12:11,839 --> 00:12:14,160
they've be been accustomed to receiving.

352
00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:18,079
And so, um, good result there. On the

353
00:12:18,079 --> 00:12:21,120
next slide, um, we presented an

354
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,120
open-ended question where we said, "If

355
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,120
the city could change one thing to make

356
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:26,800
Sonteo a better place to live, what

357
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,959
change would you like to see?" Um, this

358
00:12:28,959 --> 00:12:30,639
was asked in an open-ended manner,

359
00:12:30,639 --> 00:12:32,000
meaning we didn't provide them with the

360
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,079
list of options you see here on the

361
00:12:34,079 --> 00:12:35,920
slide. They got to just tell us in their

362
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,839
own words. We went back and looked at

363
00:12:37,839 --> 00:12:40,160
the verbatim responses and group them

364
00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,120
into the categories you see here. So,

365
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,959
um, the number one response there is not

366
00:12:44,959 --> 00:12:46,959
sure, can't think anything at 11%. And

367
00:12:46,959 --> 00:12:48,320
if you look a little further down the

368
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,399
list, you also see about 5% of folks who

369
00:12:50,399 --> 00:12:53,279
said no changes, everything is fine. So

370
00:12:53,279 --> 00:12:56,320
you've got about 16% of voters who when

371
00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,120
you hand them a soap box and say step up

372
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:00,639
on that soap box and tell us one thing

373
00:13:00,639 --> 00:13:02,800
we can do to to make the quality of life

374
00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:04,639
in the community better, they're kind of

375
00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:06,079
stuck for an answer, right? And that in

376
00:13:06,079 --> 00:13:08,800
some ways is the ideal um answer this

377
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:10,560
question because, you know, they really

378
00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,720
just don't see any pressing need to to

379
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,040
make changes in the community. Among the

380
00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:16,880
specific responses we did receive,

381
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,440
however, you had about 11% who requested

382
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:20,800
more affordable housing in the

383
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,279
community. You had another 11% who said

384
00:13:23,279 --> 00:13:25,040
limiting growth and preserving open

385
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,959
space was the thing that they'd most

386
00:13:26,959 --> 00:13:28,800
like to see. And then followed by

387
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:30,880
reducing traffic congestion at 10% and

388
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:32,720
on down.

389
00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,040
And then on the next slide, u we ask our

390
00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,120
last warm-up question where we simply

391
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:38,800
ask whether generally speaking they are

392
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,040
satisfied or dissatisfied with the job

393
00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,120
the city of Sanonteo is doing and

394
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,279
providing municipal services. Because

395
00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:46,800
we're asking them to speak about the

396
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,040
city's performance overall, right? We're

397
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,200
not diving into specific areas like

398
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,279
streets and roads or public safety. This

399
00:13:53,279 --> 00:13:54,720
can be thought of as an overall

400
00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,120
performance rating for the city. And you

401
00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,199
see that you've got about three out

402
00:13:59,199 --> 00:14:01,600
three out of four uh voters say that

403
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:02,959
they were satisfied with the city's

404
00:14:02,959 --> 00:14:05,440
efforts to provide municipal services.

405
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:07,920
You've got about 18% who were uh

406
00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,000
dissatisfied with the remainder being

407
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,560
not sure preferring not to answer. So to

408
00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:14,480
give you a sense of of where this lands

409
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,120
in the range of possibilities um for

410
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:18,560
those cities that are getting the top

411
00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:22,240
top scores um on this question it's kind

412
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,639
of high 80s these days and then I have

413
00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:27,680
cities that are in the 40s. So to to be

414
00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,040
at three quarters or 75% of voters

415
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:32,480
saying that, you know, they're satisfied

416
00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,079
with your performance overall, that's a

417
00:14:34,079 --> 00:14:37,120
that's a good solid score.

418
00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,440
Okay, so next slide. So after those

419
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,440
warm-up questions, we get right down to

420
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:42,880
business with what we call the initial

421
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:44,639
ballot test. And the idea the idea

422
00:14:44,639 --> 00:14:47,040
behind the initial ballot test is we

423
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:48,959
want to before we get any deeper into

424
00:14:48,959 --> 00:14:51,120
this discussion with a respondent and

425
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:52,800
start talking about possible tax rates

426
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,639
or how the funds could be spent in more

427
00:14:54,639 --> 00:14:57,120
detail or presenting arguments pro and

428
00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,360
con related to this proposal. We wanted

429
00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,839
to present to respondents a mockup of

430
00:15:01,839 --> 00:15:03,680
what we think that 75word ballot

431
00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,040
statement could look like and get their

432
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,199
reaction. The initial ballot test is a

433
00:15:07,199 --> 00:15:08,800
really good gauge of where your voters

434
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,639
are at on the natural with respect to a

435
00:15:10,639 --> 00:15:12,639
proposal because they haven't seen

436
00:15:12,639 --> 00:15:14,000
anything at this point beyond what

437
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,240
you're seeing here on the slide. This is

438
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,959
the ballot language for the bond and it

439
00:15:18,959 --> 00:15:21,279
takes the form of a legally compliant

440
00:15:21,279 --> 00:15:24,000
bond ballot statement. Um and so you can

441
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,160
see in a bond bond is about bonds are

442
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:27,490
only for capital, right? So

443
00:15:27,490 --> 00:15:28,480
[clears throat] they can do things like

444
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,240
pave and maintain local streets, fix

445
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,760
potholes, repair um you know public uh

446
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,680
buildings, things like that. they aren't

447
00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,040
for services. Um, and we had set this

448
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,199
bond at a total authorized amount of

449
00:15:41,199 --> 00:15:44,160
$323 million, which would have a tax

450
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,480
rate of $30 per 100,000 of assessed

451
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,040
valuation. So that's the bond ballot

452
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,839
language. On the next slide, same

453
00:15:51,839 --> 00:15:54,160
exercise here, only this is for those

454
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,160
50% of respondents who received the

455
00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,399
sales tax version. You can see the sales

456
00:15:58,399 --> 00:16:00,639
tax version's a little different in

457
00:16:00,639 --> 00:16:02,320
terms of the language. It can reference

458
00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,279
both bonds as well as services. And this

459
00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:07,199
takes the form of what we call a general

460
00:16:07,199 --> 00:16:10,240
tax, meaning it is the funds are not

461
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,079
earmarked for any one particular

462
00:16:12,079 --> 00:16:14,240
purpose. Uh they will go into the

463
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:15,839
general fund and it's up to council to

464
00:16:15,839 --> 00:16:17,839
decide how you would spend those things.

465
00:16:17,839 --> 00:16:19,600
But the bullets here give a good idea of

466
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,759
the things that you do fund out of the

467
00:16:21,759 --> 00:16:24,399
general fund. This was set at a one

468
00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:26,240
quarter cent sales tax. That is the

469
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,079
remaining increment that is below the

470
00:16:28,079 --> 00:16:31,440
cap uh for your city. uh it would

471
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,440
provide about $7 million annually for

472
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,399
general government use. So those were

473
00:16:36,399 --> 00:16:39,519
the two ballot statements we tested and

474
00:16:39,519 --> 00:16:41,759
here are the results. You can see on the

475
00:16:41,759 --> 00:16:44,800
left side there the bond we had 59%

476
00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,240
support for that proposal 26% opposed

477
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,639
with the remainder being unsure. On the

478
00:16:50,639 --> 00:16:53,199
right is the sales tax support initially

479
00:16:53,199 --> 00:16:54,880
was a little softer for the sales tax.

480
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,639
We had 53% support, 38% opposed, and the

481
00:16:58,639 --> 00:17:01,360
rem the rest unsure. Now, one of the

482
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:02,639
important things to keep in mind,

483
00:17:02,639 --> 00:17:05,360
however, is that a bond and a sale a

484
00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:08,000
general sales tax do not play on the

485
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,039
same playing field. A bond requires

486
00:17:11,039 --> 00:17:14,559
twothird support from uh participating

487
00:17:14,559 --> 00:17:16,799
voters to be successful or basically

488
00:17:16,799 --> 00:17:19,199
66.6667%.

489
00:17:19,199 --> 00:17:22,319
And so at this initial ballot test,

490
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:26,480
we're sitting about 8% low uh below that

491
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,400
2/3 threshold, right, for the bond. So

492
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,200
we're underwater by about 8%. The

493
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,799
general sales tax, on the other hand,

494
00:17:32,799 --> 00:17:34,880
plays on a simple majority playing

495
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,720
field. And so what that means is we need

496
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,480
50% plus one vote to be successful. So

497
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,400
even though the initial support for the

498
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,559
sales tax is softer, we're actually

499
00:17:44,559 --> 00:17:46,640
operating about three points above the

500
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,480
threshold that's required for passage

501
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:50,880
for that option. So it's important to

502
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,240
keep in mind as we go through this

503
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,320
presentation the fact that the you know

504
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,320
the threshold for passage of the bond is

505
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,559
quite a bit higher 17 points higher than

506
00:17:58,559 --> 00:18:00,080
the threshold required for the general

507
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,840
sales tax. Next slide please. So for the

508
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,120
bond um we wanted to also dig in to see

509
00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,840
how tax rate sensitive voters are with

510
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,480
respect to this proposal. Um and so

511
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,480
naturally kind of the higher the price

512
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,600
tag um for a bond all the things being

513
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,120
equal the lower the level support you

514
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:21,840
can expect. And so we we did that in a

515
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,039
couple different ways. In this first

516
00:18:23,039 --> 00:18:25,840
slide here we focused on the tax rate

517
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:27,440
that would be associated with the

518
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,799
measure. And we tested three different

519
00:18:28,799 --> 00:18:31,679
tax rates. at the top was that $30 per

520
00:18:31,679 --> 00:18:33,679
100,000 of assessed valuation tax rate

521
00:18:33,679 --> 00:18:35,840
that was built into that initial ballot

522
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,960
test um 75word ballot statement. Um if

523
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,480
they were anything but a definitely yes

524
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,120
at the $30 per 100,000 assessed, we

525
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,400
asked 20 and 15. And you can see here a

526
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,400
couple of things. Number one, the moment

527
00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,880
you kind of put the blinders on somebody

528
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,600
and you focus their attention on the tax

529
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:54,960
rate that could be associated with a

530
00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,039
bond, it has a bit of a chilling effect

531
00:18:57,039 --> 00:18:59,039
on support for the proposal. So, at that

532
00:18:59,039 --> 00:19:01,679
initial ballot test, we had 59% support

533
00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:04,080
with a $30 tax rate embedded in that

534
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,880
75word ballot statement. Here, when we

535
00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,039
pull the $30 tax rate out and set it

536
00:19:09,039 --> 00:19:11,120
aside and focus voters attention on it,

537
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:13,840
support drops dramatically, we're now at

538
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,280
45%. As you then lower that tax rate

539
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,320
from 30 to 20 and then 20 to 15, you can

540
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:21,840
see that we're getting incremental

541
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,799
adjustments in support. But even at the

542
00:19:24,799 --> 00:19:27,280
$15 per 100,000 assessed valuation tax

543
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,559
rate, u we only had 55% of voters say

544
00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:32,880
that they would support this proposal.

545
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,160
That's about 12 points south of the 2/3

546
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,240
threshold that's required for passage.

547
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,160
Now, one of the things we know about

548
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,600
this question is it tends to be a

549
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,400
conservative read on support for a bond.

550
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,559
The reason being when you talk about the

551
00:19:46,559 --> 00:19:48,799
tax implications of a bond in terms of a

552
00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:51,440
rate per 100,000 assessed valuation, not

553
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:52,480
everybody knows what you're talking

554
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,240
about, right? You have to know what

555
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,000
assessed valuation means. You have to

556
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,480
have some reasonable estimate of the AV

557
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,400
for your for your property. You've got

558
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,480
to do math pretty quickly in the space

559
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,880
of a poll to turn that rate into a

560
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,120
meaningful number. Not everybody's good

561
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,559
at that. And so we know that there's a

562
00:20:08,559 --> 00:20:10,960
certain percentage of voters who when

563
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,120
you present it this way, they know

564
00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:14,720
you're talking price tag. They don't

565
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,559
know what it adds up to and they'll

566
00:20:16,559 --> 00:20:17,919
hedge. They'll say, "No, we're not

567
00:20:17,919 --> 00:20:19,760
sure." So that's why on the next slide,

568
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,760
we come about a different way. You say,

569
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,520
"All right, let me put it another way.

570
00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:24,880
If you knew that this measure would cost

571
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,760
the typical homeowner about $225 per

572
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,400
year, would you vote yes or no?" The

573
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,159
$225 per year is the $30 per 100,000 of

574
00:20:34,159 --> 00:20:36,480
assessed valuation tax rate multiplied

575
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,720
times the median AV for residential

576
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,039
property in your community. So those two

577
00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:42,720
numbers are comparable. And you can see

578
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:44,559
that when you go ahead and do the math,

579
00:20:44,559 --> 00:20:46,559
you do tend to get a more positive

580
00:20:46,559 --> 00:20:49,200
response to that amount. Right? When we

581
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,280
tested the $30 tax rate, we were sort of

582
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,679
in the mid-40s in support. When you go

583
00:20:53,679 --> 00:20:56,320
ahead and uh do the math and translate

584
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,200
that into a $225 per year for the median

585
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,480
homeowner, support goes up to 53%. But

586
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,400
here again, we're still well below the

587
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,200
2/3 threshold that's required for a bond

588
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,799
to pass. Next slide, please.

589
00:21:10,799 --> 00:21:12,400
So, at this point in the poll, we go

590
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:13,760
into what we call the projects and

591
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:15,840
services section. And the and the idea

592
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,000
here is really twofold. One is we're now

593
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:19,919
going to start to educate respondents

594
00:21:19,919 --> 00:21:21,679
more about what these measures could

595
00:21:21,679 --> 00:21:24,159
accomplish than we can possibly glean

596
00:21:24,159 --> 00:21:26,159
from the 75word ballot statement. Right?

597
00:21:26,159 --> 00:21:28,480
In the 75 words, only about half of

598
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,880
those words can be devoted to describing

599
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,039
what the measure will accomplish. Here

600
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:34,960
we get to unpack your measures into all

601
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,600
these various potential uses. And in

602
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,200
that way, voters are getting a better

603
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,360
idea about what the proposals are about.

604
00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:42,960
The other thing it allows us to do is to

605
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:44,400
look at of all the ways you could

606
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,080
potentially spend the money, how do

607
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:47,760
voters feel about each of these ways and

608
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,120
which of these are ultimately their

609
00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,520
priorities. And as you look at this

610
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,360
list, first thing that sort of jumps out

611
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,440
is every single item on this list has at

612
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,520
least twothirds of voters say they would

613
00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,679
favor spending some of the money on that

614
00:21:59,679 --> 00:22:01,440
item. So there's nothing on this list

615
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,280
that is what I would call unpopular,

616
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,039
right? Like they voters just don't see

617
00:22:05,039 --> 00:22:07,120
the merit of the service and aren't

618
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:08,799
enthused about raising their taxes to

619
00:22:08,799 --> 00:22:11,120
fund it. That said, you can kind of see

620
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,240
a natural break here where um you know

621
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,720
the top seven projects test higher uh

622
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,520
favorability overall and more intense

623
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,080
favorability. And what you do see here

624
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,159
is it's sort of a mix of public works

625
00:22:26,159 --> 00:22:28,799
and public safety, right? Um and some of

626
00:22:28,799 --> 00:22:30,320
these items, the ones that are flagged

627
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,559
sales tax. So the number one item, the

628
00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:34,720
number three item, the number five item,

629
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,960
these are items that can be funded by a

630
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,960
sales tax. they can't be funded by a

631
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,280
bond because they're serviceoriented.

632
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,480
So overall, again, a a strong mix of

633
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,960
public safety and public works among the

634
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,960
the top rated projects.

635
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,840
So if you as a council ultimately choose

636
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,159
to move forward with a measure in 2026,

637
00:22:56,159 --> 00:22:57,919
there's going to be an election cycle.

638
00:22:57,919 --> 00:22:59,440
During that election cycle, there's

639
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:00,799
going to be a lot of discussion and

640
00:23:00,799 --> 00:23:02,720
debate in the community about this

641
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,120
proposal, right? You'll have advocates

642
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:06,799
of the measure going out and talking to

643
00:23:06,799 --> 00:23:08,559
their friends and neighbors and telling

644
00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:10,000
them why this is needed and why they

645
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,000
should vote yes. You might also get some

646
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:13,440
opponents, right, who step up and say,

647
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,440
"This is a terrible idea. We shouldn't

648
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,600
be doing it. Here's why." For this

649
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,840
survey to be a reliable gauge of the

650
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,240
reli a reliable gauge of the feasibility

651
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,159
of a potential revenue measure. We need

652
00:23:24,159 --> 00:23:26,159
to simulate that discussion and debate

653
00:23:26,159 --> 00:23:28,080
in the space of the poll. So we

654
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,280
understand not only where are your

655
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:30,880
voters on the natural which was that

656
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,200
initial ballot test but what happens to

657
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:34,799
their support for these proposals once

658
00:23:34,799 --> 00:23:36,640
they hear positive arguments and once

659
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,200
they hear negative arguments. So we do

660
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,520
that by uh first testing positive

661
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,200
arguments. You can see here on this

662
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,360
slide uh the nature of the question is

663
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,520
supporters of the measure say blank you

664
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,600
insert a positive argument. Do you think

665
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:50,880
this is a very convincing somewhat

666
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,240
convincing or not at all convincing

667
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:53,919
reason to support the [clears throat]

668
00:23:53,919 --> 00:23:55,600
proposal?

669
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,440
Um, and what you see is, you know, a lot

670
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,600
of these positive arguments resonate.

671
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,679
Um, towards the top of the list though,

672
00:24:01,679 --> 00:24:04,400
it's interesting. I've found in just the

673
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,960
last uh election cycle that if you can

674
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,760
just add a little specificity to some of

675
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,279
these arguments, it can make a big

676
00:24:11,279 --> 00:24:12,880
difference. Right? So, to talk generally

677
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,200
about the fact that you need to maintain

678
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:16,880
roads and you have a lot of sewers and

679
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,200
storm drain pipes and parks to maintain

680
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,120
will get you a certain reaction. When

681
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,799
you can actually quantify and say the

682
00:24:22,799 --> 00:24:25,440
city maintains 200 miles of streets, 300

683
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,559
m 90 miles of sewer and storm drain

684
00:24:28,559 --> 00:24:32,400
pipes and 31 parks, suddenly it kind of

685
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,279
puts into perspective the scale and the

686
00:24:35,279 --> 00:24:38,320
magnitude of what you as a city have to

687
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,960
maintain. And it really sort of

688
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,880
catapults this message from being kind

689
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,120
of a lukewarm positive argument into

690
00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:47,039
being one of your stronger positive

691
00:24:47,039 --> 00:24:49,440
arguments. So you can see here we got a

692
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:50,720
lot of positive arguments. as they get

693
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,039
traction. Now, at at this point in the

694
00:24:53,039 --> 00:24:56,640
poll, voters have now heard more about

695
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,720
this proposal, these proposals than they

696
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,039
did initially, right? Subsequent to the

697
00:25:01,039 --> 00:25:02,960
initial ballot test on the bond, we

698
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,480
talked about the possible tax rates that

699
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,640
could be associated with the bond. Um,

700
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,720
we in both cases had the chance to

701
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,120
convey more details about how the funds

702
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,039
could be spent. We've also conveyed

703
00:25:13,039 --> 00:25:14,960
positive arguments. We have not conveyed

704
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,520
negatives. So, on the next slide, we

705
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:19,039
check in with what we call the interim

706
00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:21,120
ballot test. We present the same 75

707
00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,120
words and we ask now that you've heard a

708
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,440
bit more where do you stand? You can see

709
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,200
at this point we're in a dead heat

710
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,000
between these two measures. Uh the sales

711
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,159
tax I mean sorry the bond support for

712
00:25:32,159 --> 00:25:34,000
the bond actually ticked down a point

713
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,799
right? So we're now at 58%. However,

714
00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:38,960
support for the sales tax has increased

715
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,159
five points and we're now at 58%. So

716
00:25:42,159 --> 00:25:44,559
even though we're tied in terms of the

717
00:25:44,559 --> 00:25:45,919
level of support for the respective

718
00:25:45,919 --> 00:25:48,080
measures here again the playing fields

719
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,480
aren't even. We're still about nine

720
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,559
points lower than the twothirds

721
00:25:52,559 --> 00:25:54,080
threshold that's required for passing

722
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,159
for a bond. Meanwhile, we're eight

723
00:25:56,159 --> 00:25:59,360
points north of the simple majority

724
00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,520
threshold that's required for the sales

725
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,279
tax option. And then next slide and then

726
00:26:05,279 --> 00:26:07,520
we get to the negatives. So the idea

727
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,039
behind the negatives is I want to

728
00:26:09,039 --> 00:26:11,440
pressure test voter support for this

729
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,679
proposal by peppering them with a series

730
00:26:13,679 --> 00:26:15,279
of negative arguments. the kind of

731
00:26:15,279 --> 00:26:16,640
opposition arguments they might

732
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,640
encounter during an election cycle so

733
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,200
that we have an understanding of should

734
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,440
you get opposition, should they be vocal

735
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,520
and get their message out there, how

736
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,520
much impact would that have potentially

737
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,760
on voter support for your proposal. So,

738
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:31,440
we tested a series of negative

739
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:32,880
arguments. You can see here at the top

740
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,279
of the list, the top three all have to

741
00:26:35,279 --> 00:26:36,799
do with what we think is probably going

742
00:26:36,799 --> 00:26:38,080
to be the dominant theme of this

743
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:39,279
upcoming election, which is

744
00:26:39,279 --> 00:26:41,360
affordability, right? Everyone's

745
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:42,559
sensitive cost of living and

746
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:46,080
affordability. uh uh issues and all the

747
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,400
top three here kind of focus on that

748
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,720
from one angle or another. So we see

749
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,039
that the negatives do get some traction.

750
00:26:53,039 --> 00:26:54,559
The real question though is what happens

751
00:26:54,559 --> 00:26:57,600
afterwards and that is the next slide.

752
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,080
So after the negatives um what we see is

753
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,600
the bond cools down to 54% at this

754
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,000
point. So we are a full 13 points below

755
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,039
the 2/3 threshold. um whereas the sales

756
00:27:09,039 --> 00:27:11,679
tax cools down less and we're landing at

757
00:27:11,679 --> 00:27:14,880
56% which is six points north of the

758
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,960
simple majority that's required for

759
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:18,720
passage. And so one of the interesting

760
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,720
patterns in this poll is the bond starts

761
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,799
higher and the more people are learning

762
00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:25,120
about the proposal, it tends to trail in

763
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,520
a downward direction. Meanwhile, support

764
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,919
for the sales tax winds up ending the

765
00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:32,960
survey higher than it began.

766
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,120
Next slide, please. So, I've got a

767
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,279
couple wrap-up um slides on the uh

768
00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:40,799
polling that I'll share and then I'll

769
00:27:40,799 --> 00:27:43,200
kick it back over to Zach. So, what does

770
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,039
all this mean? Um yeah, I'm going to

771
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:46,640
circle back to that overarching question

772
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,400
I mentioned at the outset as the main

773
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,240
motivator for why we do this research,

774
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:51,919
which is to answer that question of is

775
00:27:51,919 --> 00:27:54,080
it feasible? What I mean by that is if

776
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,000
you as a council choose to place a

777
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:57,360
measure on the ballot, does it have a

778
00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:59,200
reasonable chance of success in

779
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,200
November? I think the answer to that

780
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:02,880
question really depends on which measure

781
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,640
we're talking about. Based on these

782
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,480
polling results, we do not see that a

783
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,200
bond is feasible. At no point do we have

784
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:10,960
enough support to where I felt

785
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:12,640
comfortable thinking that you're going

786
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,320
to be able to achieve a 2/3 uh threshold

787
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,799
in November. The general sales tax on

788
00:28:18,799 --> 00:28:20,720
the other hand is a different story. I

789
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,240
think that is a feasible measure, right?

790
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:23,840
I think there's a path forward for a

791
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,399
winning measure. Why is that? What's all

792
00:28:26,399 --> 00:28:28,080
the things that you see under the

793
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,159
bullets there for uh positive signs for

794
00:28:30,159 --> 00:28:32,240
the sales tax? We saw that right out of

795
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,480
the gates with just that 75word ballot

796
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,320
statement, we had sufficient natural

797
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,559
support. We need simple majority. We had

798
00:28:38,559 --> 00:28:42,720
53%. Um and we also saw that as the as

799
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,720
voters learned more about that sales tax

800
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,120
measure, support for that option grew.

801
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:48,399
Right? That wasn't the case with the

802
00:28:48,399 --> 00:28:50,399
bond. It was the case with the sales

803
00:28:50,399 --> 00:28:53,440
tax. All of the sort of projects and

804
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,120
services that you can fund with a sales

805
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,760
tax were popular. We've got positive

806
00:28:57,760 --> 00:28:59,279
arguments that resonate. And

807
00:28:59,279 --> 00:29:01,760
importantly, at each point in the poll

808
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:03,919
where we circled back to a respondent

809
00:29:03,919 --> 00:29:05,440
and said, "Now that you've heard a bit

810
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,279
more, where do you stand on these

811
00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:09,600
measures?" At every one of those ballot

812
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,440
tests for the sales tax, it was above

813
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,039
that simple majority required for

814
00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:15,039
passage. And that was even after

815
00:29:15,039 --> 00:29:17,360
opposition arguments. And so when we see

816
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:19,279
that sort of combination of things,

817
00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:22,399
those pieces to the puzzle in place, um

818
00:29:22,399 --> 00:29:24,240
that's what we want to see to be able to

819
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:25,360
feel comfortable that you've got a

820
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:26,480
measure that could be winnable on

821
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,720
election day. That said, there's also

822
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,080
some challenges that come out of this

823
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,919
poll that I think we really want to be

824
00:29:31,919 --> 00:29:35,360
wide soberide about. Um one is the

825
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,120
receptiveness to potential opposition

826
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,679
arguments. We did see that um you know

827
00:29:39,679 --> 00:29:41,279
should you get opposition we saw that

828
00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:43,120
that was going to carve off a bit of the

829
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,760
support um for either proposal but um u

830
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,360
more so for the bond less so for the

831
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,600
sales tax but there was an impact there.

832
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,000
Um we want to be thoughtful about the

833
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,600
electoral environment in which we're

834
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,159
heading into. Um this coming election is

835
00:29:58,159 --> 00:30:00,240
going to be hyperartisan like the last

836
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,720
few have been and that can have an

837
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,320
impact as you get closer to election

838
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,399
day. the campaigning, the partisan

839
00:30:06,399 --> 00:30:09,279
campaigning sort of hits high gear, that

840
00:30:09,279 --> 00:30:12,480
can cause a little bit of a a change in

841
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,640
how some voters might view your measure.

842
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,399
There might also and probably will be

843
00:30:16,399 --> 00:30:17,840
competing measures on the ballot. So,

844
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:19,039
you won't be the only thing on the

845
00:30:19,039 --> 00:30:22,000
ballot. And then finally, you know,

846
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:23,919
there are these unknowns and and they're

847
00:30:23,919 --> 00:30:25,919
sort of unknown in the sense that, you

848
00:30:25,919 --> 00:30:28,559
know, we are currently living with with

849
00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:30,799
tariffs. It's having a certain impact on

850
00:30:30,799 --> 00:30:32,480
inflation. It's having a certain impact

851
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,360
on the economy overall. We don't know

852
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,360
what the next nine months is going to

853
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,279
hold, right? But these are not totally

854
00:30:39,279 --> 00:30:40,799
unknowns. I mean, we are living in this

855
00:30:40,799 --> 00:30:42,320
environment now. The question is whether

856
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:43,600
things get a little better, a little

857
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,679
worse. Um, and obviously you have these

858
00:30:45,679 --> 00:30:46,799
other measures that could be on the

859
00:30:46,799 --> 00:30:48,799
ballot. So, all of these things are

860
00:30:48,799 --> 00:30:50,320
things that depending on how they play

861
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,640
out can create a little adversity for

862
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,159
your measure. Um, I bring them up not

863
00:30:56,159 --> 00:30:58,000
because I think these are insurmountable

864
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,880
challenges. They're just a reminder that

865
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:02,799
when we move forward with a measure, we

866
00:31:02,799 --> 00:31:04,240
want to put a measure on the ballot that

867
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,640
can withstand some of these headwinds,

868
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:08,399
right? We want to put a a measure on the

869
00:31:08,399 --> 00:31:10,399
ballot that we aren't crossing our

870
00:31:10,399 --> 00:31:12,480
fingers and holding our breath and

871
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,000
hoping that we've got great weather on

872
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,000
election day. You know, we want to put a

873
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,960
measure up there that's squarely in the

874
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,039
sort of space that voters have said that

875
00:31:21,039 --> 00:31:24,240
they'd want to see uh and this measure

876
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,320
be and and focused on particular

877
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,080
services and improvements. Um, and uh, I

878
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,279
think if we do that, we're in a good

879
00:31:31,279 --> 00:31:34,799
position. Next slide, please.

880
00:31:34,799 --> 00:31:36,480
So, although you've got promising

881
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,240
results with respect to the sales tax,

882
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:39,840
it's important to keep in mind that a

883
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,480
survey like this is not a crystal ball

884
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,000
looking forward to election day saying

885
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,880
you're going to get 53 or 59% on

886
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,120
election day. It's a snapshot in time,

887
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,640
right? It tells us where your voters are

888
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,039
today. It tells us how they are likely

889
00:31:53,039 --> 00:31:55,039
to react to the types of information

890
00:31:55,039 --> 00:31:56,480
they can encounter during the election

891
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:58,640
cycle. But ultimately what happens on

892
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,960
election day isn't what based on what

893
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,720
your poll says today. It's based on

894
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,080
everything that happens from this point

895
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,000
forward. Right? So it's a kind of a

896
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,399
reminder that we need to make smart

897
00:32:08,399 --> 00:32:10,480
decisions about the measure that you put

898
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,240
in front of voters so that it's well

899
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:13,840
aligned with the kind of measure that

900
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:15,360
they've said that they are interested in

901
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,000
sporting and you got to put the work in

902
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,480
in terms of communications. So under the

903
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,159
category of smart decisions, I would

904
00:32:22,159 --> 00:32:23,840
just point out a couple things. number

905
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,720
one as a general sales tax. Although

906
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,320
there are two elections in our near

907
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,880
future, we've got the primary in June as

908
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:32,559
well as the general election in

909
00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:34,640
November. One of the conditions of

910
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:36,640
having a general tax is that it needs to

911
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,640
appear on that upcoming November ballot.

912
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,120
It's not an option for June. I also like

913
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,279
the November turnout being higher

914
00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:45,440
anyways. And so I I think that's the the

915
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,080
date to be focusing on. From a tax rate

916
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:49,600
perspective on the sales tax, I would

917
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:51,600
keep it at the quarter cent. That keeps

918
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,360
you under the cap. it brings you up to

919
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,000
the cap uh of the the total combined

920
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,919
sales tax rate. Um and so I would stay

921
00:32:59,919 --> 00:33:02,159
there. In terms of funding priorities,

922
00:33:02,159 --> 00:33:04,720
everything you know that we tested was

923
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,240
popular. And it's important to keep in

924
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,240
mind that a a general tax does not

925
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,799
earmark the funds for any particular

926
00:33:10,799 --> 00:33:13,200
purpose. But that said, from your

927
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,880
general fund, you fund all the things

928
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,559
you see there under that bullet. And

929
00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:18,240
that's kind of the things that voters

930
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,240
indicated they are most interested in

931
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,559
supporting. That's combination of public

932
00:33:22,559 --> 00:33:24,880
work, public works and public safety.

933
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:29,039
Um, and then from a moving forward

934
00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:30,799
standpoint, there's really two paths of

935
00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:32,720
communication to be thinking about.

936
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,799
There's the non-advocacy communications

937
00:33:34,799 --> 00:33:37,039
that the city can do, right? Just

938
00:33:37,039 --> 00:33:39,919
providing voters with basic information

939
00:33:39,919 --> 00:33:42,640
that helps build awareness of what your

940
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,360
service needs are, your capital funding

941
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,840
needs, and start to build consensus on a

942
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:49,679
proposal. Ultimately, there would also

943
00:33:49,679 --> 00:33:51,440
have to be an independent campaign,

944
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,080
private dollars not funded by the city,

945
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:55,360
um that could actually go out and

946
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:56,640
advocate for this measure during the

947
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,880
election cycle. And one more one more

948
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,519
thing I want to point out is when we

949
00:34:01,519 --> 00:34:03,039
started this process, you know, we were

950
00:34:03,039 --> 00:34:04,720
looking at potentially a bond as well as

951
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,039
a sales tax. One of the things that's

952
00:34:07,039 --> 00:34:08,320
important to keep in mind about these

953
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,560
sales taxes, there's a cap, right, on

954
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,440
the rate that is allowed. Um there's a

955
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,760
max uh sales tax rate that's allowed in

956
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,440
any uh county. and there's only a

957
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,720
quarter% left uh in that within your

958
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:25,040
city. And so there's this 1/4 cent sales

959
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,159
tax that's there. Now you as a city can

960
00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:30,800
go with a measure and claim that in

961
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,480
which case those dollars will stay

962
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,960
local, right? The sales tax revenue from

963
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,800
that from that measure would stay local

964
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,800
and it would be controlled by the city.

965
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,639
If the city doesn't take it and another

966
00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:43,760
say regionwide or countywide um agency

967
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,320
does that effectively will lock the city

968
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,399
out of being able to go for that in the

969
00:34:48,399 --> 00:34:50,320
future. Right? Once that once that

970
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,520
quarter cent is taken it is no longer

971
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,000
available. And so you have sort of a

972
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,400
limited time you know uh sort of

973
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,079
opportunity here to be able to go grab

974
00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:02,880
that. Um I'm not sure what other

975
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,640
agencies are going to do but um

976
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:06,079
obviously at some point that would be

977
00:35:06,079 --> 00:35:09,359
claimed. So, uh, I think with that I'll

978
00:35:09,359 --> 00:35:12,160
hand it back to Zach.

979
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,109
>> Thank you. So, yeah, just quickly some

980
00:35:15,109 --> 00:35:15,119
» Thank you. So, yeah, just quickly some

981
00:35:15,119 --> 00:35:17,520
next steps. So, if the council, uh,

982
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:19,440
decides to move forward with option one,

983
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,240
two, or three, staff will engage in an

984
00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:24,800
educational outreach effort to inform

985
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,640
the community about the potential ballot

986
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,200
measure. We'll work with True North

987
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,280
Research to conduct a tracking survey in

988
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,760
the spring or early summer of 2026 so we

989
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,480
can get more information about uh likely

990
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,040
voters and their feelings towards the

991
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,920
revenue measure. Uh we'll also develop

992
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,960
draft ballot language and then lastly

993
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,359
report back to the council on the survey

994
00:35:47,359 --> 00:35:49,440
results and ask for final direction on

995
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,280
whether to place the measure on the

996
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,520
ballot. That would likely happen in July

997
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:56,720
of 2026. And it's important to note like

998
00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:00,880
Timothy mentioned that uh u once once

999
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,040
the council if the council does decide

1000
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,119
to put the uh measure on the ballot then

1001
00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:09,359
uh after that point the city can no

1002
00:36:09,359 --> 00:36:11,440
longer spend city resources or staff

1003
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,040
time on community outreach.

1004
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,680
So last slide here are the four options.

1005
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:19,839
It's really move forward with uh

1006
00:36:19,839 --> 00:36:21,920
education and outreach on a sales tax

1007
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,880
measure, a general obligation bond, both

1008
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,599
or neither. And with that, I'll pass it

1009
00:36:27,599 --> 00:36:29,359
back to the mayor. Thank you.

1010
00:36:29,359 --> 00:36:31,109
>> Thank you, Mr. Raa and [clears throat]

1011
00:36:31,109 --> 00:36:31,119
» Thank you, Mr. Raa and [clears throat]

1012
00:36:31,119 --> 00:36:33,680
Mr. McCarnney.

1013
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,480
At this point, I'd like to

1014
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,160
open for public comment on this item. If

1015
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:42,160
you are in the room and have a speaker

1016
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,079
slip, you can hand it to the city clerk

1017
00:36:44,079 --> 00:36:46,240
at this time. If you're on Zoom, please

1018
00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:48,800
raise your hand.

1019
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,359
Mr. City Clerk, uh, how many speakers do

1020
00:36:51,359 --> 00:36:53,119
we have?

1021
00:36:53,119 --> 00:36:55,349
>> Certainly, Mayor Lorraine, if you are in

1022
00:36:55,349 --> 00:36:55,359
» Certainly, Mayor Lorraine, if you are in

1023
00:36:55,359 --> 00:36:56,880
our virtual environment, please raise

1024
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,480
your hand if you wish to speak on this

1025
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,640
item. We will be calling the last

1026
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,800
speaker. So, we'll give you just a few

1027
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,920
moments to do so.

1028
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,079
Mayor Lorraine, we have a total of three

1029
00:37:08,079 --> 00:37:09,599
requests to speak. We have two in

1030
00:37:09,599 --> 00:37:12,240
person, and our final speaker on this

1031
00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:14,400
item will be Thomas Morgan. We'll begin

1032
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,880
with our in-person request to speak. If

1033
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,800
you are participating in person, we have

1034
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,760
a podium in the center of our room here.

1035
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,920
Please speak in directly into the

1036
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,079
microphone. And we will begin with

1037
00:37:26,079 --> 00:37:29,680
Michael Reagan and using council adopted

1038
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:31,920
rules and procedures. We will set the

1039
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,920
time limit at three minutes per speaker.

1040
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,950
>> Is this working? Yes, working. Now, not

1041
00:37:38,950 --> 00:37:38,960
» Is this working? Yes, working. Now, not

1042
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,599
often I speak have ever spoke down to

1043
00:37:41,599 --> 00:37:43,280
you. I guess we're speaking down.

1044
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,359
Usually I'm looking up at you. Happy New

1045
00:37:45,359 --> 00:37:48,880
Year to all of you. Um that was a great

1046
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,680
presentation. Um I'm not too thrilled

1047
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,359
with um consult consultings. Uh the

1048
00:37:55,359 --> 00:37:56,720
amount of money that we spent on

1049
00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:58,880
consulting fees. Uh I've seen many of

1050
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,280
those spent over the many years and uh

1051
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:03,040
it seems to add up to a lot of things we

1052
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,280
could do like we need a roof at our

1053
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,839
library and our uh del and our senior

1054
00:38:07,839 --> 00:38:09,200
center. I think that money could be

1055
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:10,480
better spent because I think a lot of

1056
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:12,079
this stuff we already know and I think

1057
00:38:12,079 --> 00:38:14,160
what you should do is put this thing in

1058
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,400
a binder and whenever you want to do a

1059
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:18,560
bond or or sales tax I think this pretty

1060
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,000
much tells you everything you're going

1061
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,520
to know for the many years because I

1062
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:22,560
don't think it's going to change too

1063
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:27,280
much. Um my point uh I guess it from his

1064
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,200
speech not wanting a bond measure I

1065
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:30,480
think that's important. My big question

1066
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,440
was not just the cost of a bond at $323

1067
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,000
million but the actual pay repayment of

1068
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,000
it. I think it's almost doubled. So, I

1069
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,720
think we're looking at almost 600 $600

1070
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:42,800
million to repay a bond. So, I think

1071
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:44,560
that's a lot of money that should be

1072
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:47,920
explained to people on the sales tax.

1073
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,800
Um, as you I didn't know that before. If

1074
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,960
we don't take it, it's gone. The problem

1075
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,119
with that is we seem to be losing a lot

1076
00:38:55,119 --> 00:38:58,480
of our sales tax revenue in my

1077
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,560
community.

1078
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,520
We're losing them all. I see nothing but

1079
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,400
businesses closing around a lot of the

1080
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,240
development that we had that you

1081
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,359
approved for u density and height

1082
00:39:11,359 --> 00:39:13,119
Safeway store lucky stores and those

1083
00:39:13,119 --> 00:39:15,280
sort of things for redevelopment we

1084
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,119
could be losing a lot of a lot of the

1085
00:39:17,119 --> 00:39:20,079
money that would give us the ability to

1086
00:39:20,079 --> 00:39:24,480
to have a sales tax. So it seems to be

1087
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,240
we're going in the wrong direction. want

1088
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:28,079
a sales tax, but we're losing so much

1089
00:39:28,079 --> 00:39:31,040
revenue with with the loss of so many so

1090
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,640
many retail um establishments.

1091
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,240
Um, I guess my last point would be that

1092
00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:40,320
um

1093
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,880
I do believe because of the um

1094
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,760
what I've read that the school is

1095
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,560
proposing a bond, our state has a $2

1096
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,359
billion deficit and then your guys going

1097
00:39:53,359 --> 00:39:56,160
to put on either a bond or a sales tax.

1098
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,079
I think it's the wrong time to try to

1099
00:39:58,079 --> 00:39:59,680
ask people because I think they're all

1100
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:01,040
going to fail. I think there's going to

1101
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,040
be quite a few of these either bonds or

1102
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,160
taxes coming up in 26. I think we should

1103
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,160
look hard before we start spending a lot

1104
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,480
of time and money trying to get a tax

1105
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:14,640
for this year. Um and uh thank you for

1106
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,000
your time.

1107
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,230
>> Thank you. Our next speaker will be Dana

1108
00:40:18,230 --> 00:40:18,240
» Thank you. Our next speaker will be Dana

1109
00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:25,910
Sahai.

1110
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,560
» Hi council. Um,

1111
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,520
I'm against asking uh taxpayers to pay

1112
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,280
another tax. We've already been asked to

1113
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,760
pass Measure CC, the flood and storm

1114
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:37,920
protection fee, and now this. There

1115
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,359
seems to be a pattern of asking for

1116
00:40:39,359 --> 00:40:41,599
money every two years, and I'm concerned

1117
00:40:41,599 --> 00:40:43,599
that a sales tax won't raise as much

1118
00:40:43,599 --> 00:40:45,760
money as anticipated since retail

1119
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,240
continues to shrink in Sano. Just

1120
00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:50,480
because you can doesn't mean you should.

1121
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:51,680
Thank you.

1122
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:53,670
>> Thank you. Moving to our virtual

1123
00:40:53,670 --> 00:40:53,680
» Thank you. Moving to our virtual

1124
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,359
environment where our first and only

1125
00:40:55,359 --> 00:40:57,200
speaker will be Thomas Morgan. Thomas,

1126
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:07,030
please go ahead and unmute your mic.

1127
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:08,319
» Hello. Can you hear me?

1128
00:41:08,319 --> 00:41:09,670
>> It's a little faint. If you wouldn't

1129
00:41:09,670 --> 00:41:09,680
» It's a little faint. If you wouldn't

1130
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,910
mind speaking just a little bit louder.

1131
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,520
» One second. Let me try to get on my

1132
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,030
>> Sorry, Thomas. We're not hearing you

1133
00:41:19,030 --> 00:41:19,040
» Sorry, Thomas. We're not hearing you

1134
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:20,079
quite well. If you wouldn't mind

1135
00:41:20,079 --> 00:41:28,790
speaking just a little bit louder.

1136
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:30,800
Now, Thomas, we're not hearing you at

1137
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,560
all at this time. If you're continuing

1138
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:34,880
to speak, maybe having some technical

1139
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:47,670
issues,

1140
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,520
Mayor Lorraine, it looks like we're um

1141
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,160
unable to hear our final public

1142
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:54,720
commenter. Um so, at this time, we will

1143
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:57,760
close public comment. Um before we go to

1144
00:41:57,760 --> 00:41:59,599
console comments, um we are experiencing

1145
00:41:59,599 --> 00:42:01,359
some technical difficulties at the

1146
00:42:01,359 --> 00:42:03,119
moment. So, uh some of our virtual

1147
00:42:03,119 --> 00:42:04,720
attendees are having some difficulty

1148
00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:06,560
hearing us. Um so, if you could please

1149
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:08,319
speak directly into the microphone as

1150
00:42:08,319 --> 00:42:09,920
you are providing your comments, that

1151
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:11,920
would be appreciated.

1152
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,119
Okay, I will try my best to do that and

1153
00:42:15,119 --> 00:42:16,800
thank you for the update and I'm sorry

1154
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,240
to Thomas, but uh at least I know that

1155
00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:23,280
Thomas uh frequently contributes and can

1156
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:25,839
email us uh his thoughts for what it's

1157
00:42:25,839 --> 00:42:29,119
worth. Um

1158
00:42:29,119 --> 00:42:32,480
at this time, I would like to ask if any

1159
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,000
of my council colleagues have any

1160
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,160
questions members.

1161
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:37,510
>> Thank you through the mayor. I'm

1162
00:42:37,510 --> 00:42:37,520
» Thank you through the mayor. I'm

1163
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:40,240
wondering if we can call our um finance

1164
00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:43,280
director Abby up here to answer a few

1165
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,160
questions.

1166
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,550
>> Um primarily my question is if you could

1167
00:42:48,550 --> 00:42:48,560
» Um primarily my question is if you could

1168
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,000
explain to the public

1169
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,960
um about the current city deficit and

1170
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:57,200
what the potential impacts would be if

1171
00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,599
we didn't have a sales tax measure or

1172
00:42:59,599 --> 00:43:04,790
bond measure.

1173
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,150
Thank you.

1174
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:10,640
Great. Sure. Um, and we will be talking

1175
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:12,400
about that also when we come back for

1176
00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:14,400
the midyear budget adjustments in

1177
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:15,920
February at the February 20th meeting.

1178
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:17,839
So, we'll be going into depth more. Uh,

1179
00:43:17,839 --> 00:43:19,599
but at this time, we'll talk about the

1180
00:43:19,599 --> 00:43:21,040
kind of current deficit that we've been

1181
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:22,880
talking about. Um, when we came to

1182
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:26,240
adopter budget for fiscal year 2526, we

1183
00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:29,760
had a budget deficit of $12 million. Um,

1184
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:31,280
with our revenue estimates and our

1185
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:33,599
expenditures. Um after that we also

1186
00:43:33,599 --> 00:43:36,079
heard that we did not get the full VLF

1187
00:43:36,079 --> 00:43:39,359
shortfall that we were due for 2526. So

1188
00:43:39,359 --> 00:43:41,520
we that's another two million that right

1189
00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,000
now um will not be coming in in

1190
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:45,599
revenues. So that increased our deficit

1191
00:43:45,599 --> 00:43:48,160
to 14 million. Um, so what we're looking

1192
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,200
for is this is we do think that with

1193
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:53,280
salary savings and some expenditure

1194
00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:54,960
savings, we can hopefully get that down

1195
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:56,960
to a lower amount, but given that we're

1196
00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,760
seeing about 5 to 7 million in deficit

1197
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,319
kind of on an annual basis, um, we're

1198
00:44:02,319 --> 00:44:05,359
looking to an ongoing revenue source to

1199
00:44:05,359 --> 00:44:08,079
kind of help meet that demand because

1200
00:44:08,079 --> 00:44:09,920
um, expenses are continuing as

1201
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:11,520
everybody's been talking about and our

1202
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:12,880
revenues are growing. They're just not

1203
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,119
growing as fast um, as expenses are at

1204
00:44:15,119 --> 00:44:17,680
this point. Okay, great. Thank you so

1205
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:24,069
much. Um,

1206
00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:25,760
» I think that's it for me. I just

1207
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:28,640
appreciate the clarification.

1208
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,309
>> Very good, Council Member Nome

1209
00:44:32,309 --> 00:44:32,319
» Very good, Council Member Nome

1210
00:44:32,319 --> 00:44:34,640
through the mayor. Thank you.

1211
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:36,550
>> Okay. Um, these questions I'm going to

1212
00:44:36,550 --> 00:44:36,560
» Okay. Um, these questions I'm going to

1213
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,760
direct towards True North and then if

1214
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:42,079
need to we can ask the staff as well. Uh

1215
00:44:42,079 --> 00:44:44,800
the first question is of the,2

1216
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,200
interviewees, do we know with certainty

1217
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,200
or relative certainty that these are

1218
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:52,480
Sano city residents that are um voters

1219
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:58,069
within the city?

1220
00:44:58,079 --> 00:45:02,069
» You're on mute.

1221
00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:03,280
» Tim, you're on mute.

1222
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,390
>> Yeah, I'm sorry. Uh can I right as you

1223
00:45:06,390 --> 00:45:06,400
» Yeah, I'm sorry. Uh can I right as you

1224
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:08,880
were speaking I heard a sneeze and so I

1225
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:10,560
missed part of what you had.

1226
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:12,309
>> Well you you have a great turnout with

1227
00:45:12,309 --> 00:45:12,319
» Well you you have a great turnout with

1228
00:45:12,319 --> 00:45:15,200
a,2 interviewees and a city population

1229
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,240
of about 110,000. So I was curious do we

1230
00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:18,800
know

1231
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,270
>> just froze.

1232
00:45:21,270 --> 00:45:21,280
» just froze.

1233
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,270
>> Can you hear me?

1234
00:45:23,270 --> 00:45:23,280
» Can you hear me?

1235
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:25,270
>> I'm sorry it just froze now. Um one more

1236
00:45:25,270 --> 00:45:25,280
» I'm sorry it just froze now. Um one more

1237
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:26,000
time.

1238
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,069
>> Okay. Uh you have a great turnout with

1239
00:45:28,069 --> 00:45:28,079
» Okay. Uh you have a great turnout with

1240
00:45:28,079 --> 00:45:30,960
the number of interviewees you have with

1241
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:32,800
12. I was curious, do we know if these

1242
00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:35,520
are voting Sato City residents or do we

1243
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,800
just, you know, know that they're local?

1244
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,510
>> Yeah. No, they they in order to even

1245
00:45:41,510 --> 00:45:41,520
» Yeah. No, they they in order to even

1246
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,319
have a chance to be part of our sample,

1247
00:45:44,319 --> 00:45:46,560
you need to be a a registered voter

1248
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:50,160
within the city and based on when you

1249
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:52,880
register to vote as well as what

1250
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:54,960
elections you've taken advantage of or

1251
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,240
participated in since that point to

1252
00:45:58,240 --> 00:46:01,040
demonstrate a pattern of behavior that

1253
00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:04,400
we would expect would also uh result in

1254
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:06,319
you casting a ballot in the upcoming

1255
00:46:06,319 --> 00:46:09,359
November election. And so and then once

1256
00:46:09,359 --> 00:46:10,960
we send out invitations, those

1257
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:12,079
invitations, every one of those

1258
00:46:12,079 --> 00:46:14,240
invitations has a hyperlink in it. The

1259
00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:17,760
hyperlink is unique to that respondent.

1260
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,160
And so that only people who were part of

1261
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,880
our randomly selected sample

1262
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:25,839
um and were uh sent that invitation can

1263
00:46:25,839 --> 00:46:28,160
can access the site and they can

1264
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:29,839
complete it one time only. So we don't

1265
00:46:29,839 --> 00:46:31,920
have a situation where someone might

1266
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,000
say, "Oh, this is a great survey and I

1267
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:35,440
want, you know, my hundred best friends

1268
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:37,359
to take it. let me forward my invitation

1269
00:46:37,359 --> 00:46:39,359
to them. It doesn't work that way. They

1270
00:46:39,359 --> 00:46:41,520
can't access the site. So, we're we're

1271
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:43,839
confident that these individuals are

1272
00:46:43,839 --> 00:46:46,160
residents. They're vote registered

1273
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,720
voters and they have demonstrated in the

1274
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:51,599
past a pattern of participation that

1275
00:46:51,599 --> 00:46:53,599
would line up with them casting ballots

1276
00:46:53,599 --> 00:46:54,640
this November.

1277
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:56,550
>> Thank you. That's fantastic. That makes

1278
00:46:56,550 --> 00:46:56,560
» Thank you. That's fantastic. That makes

1279
00:46:56,560 --> 00:46:58,400
me feel more confident in the the

1280
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:00,640
results, too, just knowing that they

1281
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:04,000
have been vetted. Uh, second question,

1282
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:05,760
and I'm not leaning towards bond, but

1283
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,319
the bond measure is only paid by

1284
00:47:08,319 --> 00:47:12,240
property owners. Is that accurate?

1285
00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:14,870
>> Yes. So, bond is a levy on property.

1286
00:47:14,870 --> 00:47:14,880
» Yes. So, bond is a levy on property.

1287
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,270
>> So, does that mean that bond votes can

1288
00:47:17,270 --> 00:47:17,280
» So, does that mean that bond votes can

1289
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,319
only be voted by property owners or is

1290
00:47:20,319 --> 00:47:22,400
it open to the general public?

1291
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,109
>> Yeah. No, this is even though it's only

1292
00:47:25,109 --> 00:47:25,119
» Yeah. No, this is even though it's only

1293
00:47:25,119 --> 00:47:27,040
a a tax on property, same thing as a

1294
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,200
parcel tax is, right? It's a tax on on

1295
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:32,640
property. Uh it is voted on by anyone

1296
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:34,720
who's a registered voter who cares to

1297
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:36,400
participate in the election can cast

1298
00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:38,480
ballots on it, right? So you don't have

1299
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:40,079
to be a property owner to vote on a

1300
00:47:40,079 --> 00:47:42,160
bond. You can. It's just like every

1301
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:44,960
other u voterdeed measure. You just have

1302
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:46,960
to be a registered voter. Makes sense.

1303
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,280
Thank you. Uh and then I want to talk

1304
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,560
about the use it or lose it question. So

1305
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:54,880
if the sales tax, we go to the sales

1306
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,440
tax, we have for the city of San Monteo

1307
00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:00,640
a quarter of a cent. If the county were

1308
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:03,200
to put up a competing measure and go

1309
00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:06,319
after that quarter percent, would again

1310
00:48:06,319 --> 00:48:08,560
every voter in Sonteo County be able to

1311
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:12,000
weigh in on if the cityo has to pay the

1312
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,160
other quarter cent to the county or is

1313
00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,560
it still exclusive to the people who

1314
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,280
would be paying the additional tax? So

1315
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,040
any tax measure that's on the ballot

1316
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,839
that would be for the city of Sonteo

1317
00:48:23,839 --> 00:48:25,760
like this quarter cent sales tax we just

1318
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:28,880
discussed here that is only decided on

1319
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:32,079
by voters in your city right so you get

1320
00:48:32,079 --> 00:48:34,240
to decide the fate of that measure. The

1321
00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:36,400
point of the lose it or use it use it or

1322
00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:39,520
lose it issue is that you know perhaps

1323
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:41,839
in a future election the county of San

1324
00:48:41,839 --> 00:48:44,079
Monteo decides that they want to put a

1325
00:48:44,079 --> 00:48:46,000
quarter cent sales tax on the ballot for

1326
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,559
some other regionwide purpose. If that

1327
00:48:48,559 --> 00:48:50,640
passes countywide, it doesn't matter if

1328
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:52,640
it passes within the city of San Monteo,

1329
00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:55,520
but if countywide that measure passes,

1330
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:57,200
that quarter cent is going to apply

1331
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,079
across the board. And at that point,

1332
00:49:00,079 --> 00:49:02,800
there is no that quarter cent increment

1333
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:04,880
has been taken up, right? It's been

1334
00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:07,520
used. You as a city would no longer have

1335
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:09,680
the ability to go do your own quarter

1336
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:12,160
cent because you're up against the cap.

1337
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:14,549
>> Okay. And do we know how many of the

1338
00:49:14,549 --> 00:49:14,559
» Okay. And do we know how many of the

1339
00:49:14,559 --> 00:49:17,119
cities and towns in the county are not

1340
00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:21,040
at their fully capped sales tax rate?

1341
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,910
>> I don't I don't know that off hand.

1342
00:49:23,910 --> 00:49:23,920
» I don't I don't know that off hand.

1343
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:26,069
>> There there's probably, you know, I

1344
00:49:26,069 --> 00:49:26,079
» There there's probably, you know, I

1345
00:49:26,079 --> 00:49:27,359
don't want to guess, but I know that

1346
00:49:27,359 --> 00:49:30,800
there's from counting from my memory,

1347
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:32,240
there's at least five or six that are

1348
00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:34,480
already at their ceiling. And so you're

1349
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:36,319
seeing that, you know, there's potential

1350
00:49:36,319 --> 00:49:38,640
of a regional measure passage. they had

1351
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:40,960
to get special legislation to go above

1352
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:43,680
the ceiling for that. Um, and so that's

1353
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:45,520
what preserves the opportunity for our

1354
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:47,680
city to still be able to go after that

1355
00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:49,920
quarter cent. At some point down the

1356
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,520
line though, it's like uh the county had

1357
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:53,440
measure K pass. That was their sales

1358
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:55,040
tax, right? If the county comes in the

1359
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:57,680
future wanting a sales tax again, say a

1360
00:49:57,680 --> 00:50:00,240
quarter cent, then that will go that's,

1361
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:01,680
you know, it's estimated that it would

1362
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:03,440
generate about seven million annually,

1363
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:05,760
that would go to the entire county, not

1364
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:08,000
to San Monteo within the city limits

1365
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,309
>> and county voters would be voting to

1366
00:50:10,309 --> 00:50:10,319
» and county voters would be voting to

1367
00:50:10,319 --> 00:50:11,520
take to tax on

1368
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:12,950
>> from the city of San Mo.

1369
00:50:12,950 --> 00:50:12,960
» from the city of San Mo.

1370
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:14,630
>> Well, sharing it amongst all the cities,

1371
00:50:14,630 --> 00:50:14,640
» Well, sharing it amongst all the cities,

1372
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:15,200
right?

1373
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:15,750
>> Yeah.

1374
00:50:15,750 --> 00:50:15,760
» Yeah.

1375
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:19,109
>> Yeah. Thanks for clarifying. Um, and

1376
00:50:19,109 --> 00:50:19,119
» Yeah. Thanks for clarifying. Um, and

1377
00:50:19,119 --> 00:50:21,200
then I I did hear something which is

1378
00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:22,800
interesting, but have we accounted for

1379
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:26,480
the idea that we may be losing 10 to 20%

1380
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:28,880
of our sales tax with the loss of them

1381
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:30,480
all? Is is that something we've

1382
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,319
accounted for? And what would be the

1383
00:50:32,319 --> 00:50:36,079
offset of that? Do we know

1384
00:50:36,079 --> 00:50:36,549
>> Abby?

1385
00:50:36,549 --> 00:50:36,559
» Abby?

1386
00:50:36,559 --> 00:50:38,309
>> So, we're going to be doing an economic

1387
00:50:38,309 --> 00:50:38,319
» So, we're going to be doing an economic

1388
00:50:38,319 --> 00:50:40,000
analysis and study as part of the

1389
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:42,240
project and it will analyze what that

1390
00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:45,760
means um overall for the city um with

1391
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:47,839
the new project itself. And at that

1392
00:50:47,839 --> 00:50:49,359
point in time, we'll be able to better

1393
00:50:49,359 --> 00:50:50,720
understand. But just in general,

1394
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:52,400
overall, if you look at cities across

1395
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,040
California right now, uh sales tax is

1396
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:59,040
remaining flat or slightly uh lower than

1397
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:00,960
uh what has been typically on average.

1398
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:02,960
And so we're experiencing the same thing

1399
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,000
here. The city though is limited on what

1400
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:07,839
revenue generating measures that we

1401
00:51:07,839 --> 00:51:10,079
have. And so that's why when we look at

1402
00:51:10,079 --> 00:51:12,240
just uh the different revenue measure

1403
00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:14,720
options, the sales tax or the geo bond

1404
00:51:14,720 --> 00:51:16,480
uh were the two that were the most

1405
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:18,960
viable in terms of vehicles in order to

1406
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:21,440
generate revenue in this uh for this

1407
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:24,240
organization in order to provide um

1408
00:51:24,240 --> 00:51:26,160
essential services to our community. And

1409
00:51:26,160 --> 00:51:28,079
that's something that I, you know, want

1410
00:51:28,079 --> 00:51:30,720
to be able to speak to is that should we

1411
00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:33,680
not receive um additional revenue, we're

1412
00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:35,359
working on a financial sustainability

1413
00:51:35,359 --> 00:51:38,240
plan, but the result is is that we're

1414
00:51:38,240 --> 00:51:41,520
going to have to take a look at our city

1415
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:44,319
services and how we provide those uh now

1416
00:51:44,319 --> 00:51:47,040
and into the future.

1417
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:49,270
>> So, sorry, council member, would it be

1418
00:51:49,270 --> 00:51:49,280
» So, sorry, council member, would it be

1419
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:50,880
all right if we asked other council

1420
00:51:50,880 --> 00:51:51,200
members?

1421
00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:53,670
>> Yeah. Can I just finish on one just my

1422
00:51:53,670 --> 00:51:53,680
» Yeah. Can I just finish on one just my

1423
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:55,839
my last followup to that was the 7

1424
00:51:55,839 --> 00:51:58,640
million number that we forecasted is

1425
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:01,359
that based on slight deviation or a

1426
00:52:01,359 --> 00:52:03,280
slight lowering of of last year's for

1427
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:06,319
example or is it based on last year's

1428
00:52:06,319 --> 00:52:09,040
number? So, what we do is with the uh

1429
00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:10,960
structural deficit, what we do here is

1430
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:13,359
to be financially prudent as a city

1431
00:52:13,359 --> 00:52:16,160
organization, we do a 10-year forecast.

1432
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:18,480
Uh really taking a long-term look at our

1433
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:21,280
future revenues. And every year for the

1434
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:23,920
next 10 years, the city um is forecasted

1435
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:26,880
to have the 5 to7 million structural

1436
00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:29,440
budget deficit with rising costs for

1437
00:52:29,440 --> 00:52:31,760
services just like um everybody's

1438
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:35,119
experiencing um through throughout the

1439
00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:36,880
nation. and and you know cost of

1440
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:39,520
services keep going up overall and so

1441
00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:40,960
that's something that we as a city

1442
00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:45,040
organization are having to um deal with

1443
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:46,079
as well.

1444
00:52:46,079 --> 00:52:46,470
>> Thank you.

1445
00:52:46,470 --> 00:52:46,480
» Thank you.

1446
00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:47,990
>> Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.

1447
00:52:47,990 --> 00:52:48,000
» Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.

1448
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:49,349
>> Thank you, sir.

1449
00:52:49,349 --> 00:52:49,359
» Thank you, sir.

1450
00:52:49,359 --> 00:52:52,710
>> Yes, Deputy Mayor Fernandez.

1451
00:52:52,710 --> 00:52:52,720
» Yes, Deputy Mayor Fernandez.

1452
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:55,589
>> Um a couple of questions for uh Finance

1453
00:52:55,589 --> 00:52:55,599
» Um a couple of questions for uh Finance

1454
00:52:55,599 --> 00:53:00,790
Director Viser.

1455
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:02,559
» Sorry about the back and forth, Abby.

1456
00:53:02,559 --> 00:53:05,359
I'm sorry.

1457
00:53:05,359 --> 00:53:09,119
Um my first question is usually in years

1458
00:53:09,119 --> 00:53:10,800
past when we've had deficits or gone

1459
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,359
through um challenging budgetary times,

1460
00:53:13,359 --> 00:53:16,079
we have been able to count on backfill

1461
00:53:16,079 --> 00:53:18,319
through grants from the federal and

1462
00:53:18,319 --> 00:53:20,240
state government. Can you advise on the

1463
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:21,839
chances of that occurring to sort of

1464
00:53:21,839 --> 00:53:25,200
backfill this deficit?

1465
00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:27,430
>> Um I guess in terms of I don't know

1466
00:53:27,430 --> 00:53:27,440
» Um I guess in terms of I don't know

1467
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:30,240
that's been a large part of how we have

1468
00:53:30,240 --> 00:53:32,160
backfilled in the past. I think we have

1469
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,240
done a lot of belt tightening.

1470
00:53:34,240 --> 00:53:34,549
>> Sure.

1471
00:53:34,549 --> 00:53:34,559
» Sure.

1472
00:53:34,559 --> 00:53:36,390
>> Um and kind of relied on special revenue

1473
00:53:36,390 --> 00:53:36,400
» Um and kind of relied on special revenue

1474
00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:37,920
sources, but I do know that's something

1475
00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:40,079
that we're working on now more

1476
00:53:40,079 --> 00:53:41,599
aggressively probably than we have in

1477
00:53:41,599 --> 00:53:44,160
the past. So um but I think the

1478
00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:45,990
>> So So I would just say that the grants

1479
00:53:45,990 --> 00:53:46,000
» So So I would just say that the grants

1480
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,240
typically are utilized for one-time fund

1481
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:51,040
funding sources. There may be um some

1482
00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:52,559
carveouts I would say with our police

1483
00:53:52,559 --> 00:53:55,520
department um where we are able to use

1484
00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:58,160
uh DOJ, Department of Justice grants uh

1485
00:53:58,160 --> 00:54:02,000
to be able to help us on an ongoing um

1486
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,240
on an ongoing ongoing source of income.

1487
00:54:04,240 --> 00:54:06,480
What we have done uh previously or the

1488
00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:09,040
last two years is we're tapping into our

1489
00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:12,319
reserves in order to get us through uh

1490
00:54:12,319 --> 00:54:14,720
these lean times. And so with the city

1491
00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:16,640
of San Mateo, when you really look at

1492
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:20,559
just the the revenues um overall as a

1493
00:54:20,559 --> 00:54:24,160
city when the economy as well and you

1494
00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:26,559
know we really rely on home sales here

1495
00:54:26,559 --> 00:54:28,480
in this in this community because we

1496
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:30,160
have a real property transfer tax. We

1497
00:54:30,160 --> 00:54:32,160
are the only city in Sanonteo County who

1498
00:54:32,160 --> 00:54:34,559
has a real property transfer tax. But

1499
00:54:34,559 --> 00:54:36,800
you know we're seeing historic lows in

1500
00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:39,280
the volume of home sales in this

1501
00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:40,800
community. Well, we're seeing that in

1502
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:42,480
the nation actually because of the high

1503
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,599
cost of interest uh for homes. And so,

1504
00:54:45,599 --> 00:54:47,839
uh with that, when the interest rates

1505
00:54:47,839 --> 00:54:49,920
are lower and the housing market is hot,

1506
00:54:49,920 --> 00:54:51,920
the city then generates, uh more

1507
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,079
revenue. And what we've had is, you

1508
00:54:54,079 --> 00:54:56,000
know, financially prudent city councils,

1509
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,319
this current city council and management

1510
00:54:58,319 --> 00:55:00,400
overall to be able to store up reserves

1511
00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:02,240
so that we can get through a lot of

1512
00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:04,720
these lean times. But when we look at

1513
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:07,920
the forecast, we're still 5 to7 million

1514
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:09,920
uh looking down a structural deficit for

1515
00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:11,359
the next 10 years. And our reserves can

1516
00:55:11,359 --> 00:55:14,079
get us, you know, uh, you know, get us

1517
00:55:14,079 --> 00:55:16,720
by for the next few years, but we really

1518
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:20,160
have to, you know, look at, um, how do

1519
00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:22,160
we get out of that structural deficit?

1520
00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:24,319
And so, um, what we've presented over

1521
00:55:24,319 --> 00:55:25,760
the past year, we're working on a

1522
00:55:25,760 --> 00:55:27,680
multi-prong financial sustainability

1523
00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:30,800
plan. And this is one of the many um

1524
00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:32,640
initiatives that we're looking at in

1525
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:33,839
addition to like what you were saying

1526
00:55:33,839 --> 00:55:35,599
about grant funding sources looking at

1527
00:55:35,599 --> 00:55:38,240
our real property. Um we have a bunch of

1528
00:55:38,240 --> 00:55:39,359
mechanisms that we're looking at

1529
00:55:39,359 --> 00:55:42,160
generating revenue um overall.

1530
00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:44,150
>> Okay. And fully advising the fact that

1531
00:55:44,150 --> 00:55:44,160
» Okay. And fully advising the fact that

1532
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:48,160
you are not psychic but um just given

1533
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:49,680
the tenor of the situation of what we've

1534
00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:51,760
encountered with our CDBG funds, is it

1535
00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:54,240
unlikely that we would get any federal

1536
00:55:54,240 --> 00:55:56,559
supplements outside of law enforcement

1537
00:55:56,559 --> 00:55:58,319
funds?

1538
00:55:58,319 --> 00:56:00,880
So dependent on the grant terms, it's

1539
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:02,799
really going to be, you know, it's

1540
00:56:02,799 --> 00:56:06,160
limited because of um what they have put

1541
00:56:06,160 --> 00:56:08,559
into the terms itself that the city

1542
00:56:08,559 --> 00:56:11,200
cannot align its work with what the

1543
00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:13,440
federal government's terms are. And so

1544
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:15,040
um what we're actually looking at is

1545
00:56:15,040 --> 00:56:16,960
alternative funding sources right now to

1546
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:19,119
support our most vulnerable CE members

1547
00:56:19,119 --> 00:56:21,280
of our community to provide essential

1548
00:56:21,280 --> 00:56:23,359
services to them as well. And so we're

1549
00:56:23,359 --> 00:56:25,280
not, you know, this this current year

1550
00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:26,559
right now, we have staff putting a

1551
00:56:26,559 --> 00:56:27,920
proposal together because we can't tap

1552
00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:30,480
into those federal funds this year um

1553
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:31,599
where we're going to have to dip into

1554
00:56:31,599 --> 00:56:33,920
potentially our reserves in order to

1555
00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:35,520
float [snorts] because it is essential

1556
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:37,280
services to our most vulnerable

1557
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:38,160
community members.

1558
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:40,390
>> Okay. And I believe that the state is

1559
00:56:40,390 --> 00:56:40,400
» Okay. And I believe that the state is

1560
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:42,480
also suffering from a multi-billion

1561
00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:43,839
dollar deficit. Is that accurate?

1562
00:56:43,839 --> 00:56:44,549
>> That is correct.

1563
00:56:44,549 --> 00:56:44,559
» That is correct.

1564
00:56:44,559 --> 00:56:45,910
>> So is it unlikely that we'd be getting

1565
00:56:45,910 --> 00:56:45,920
» So is it unlikely that we'd be getting

1566
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:48,240
any state funding beyond what we've

1567
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:49,680
gotten recently?

1568
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:51,589
>> So the state actually has taken funding

1569
00:56:51,589 --> 00:56:51,599
» So the state actually has taken funding

1570
00:56:51,599 --> 00:56:54,480
away. So, the vehicle license fee um is

1571
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:56,559
one great example of that this year

1572
00:56:56,559 --> 00:56:59,520
where the city is owed by state law to

1573
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:01,520
get at least its full recovery of its

1574
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,640
VLF fee. And so, we were shorted by 2.25

1575
00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:07,040
million in this last fiscal year. And

1576
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:09,040
now, in the governor's recently released

1577
00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:11,040
budget, I doubt that there's a line item

1578
00:57:11,040 --> 00:57:13,119
for VLF funding for this city. And

1579
00:57:13,119 --> 00:57:15,200
that's an additional $7 million deficit

1580
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,119
that we would look at. We were receiving

1581
00:57:17,119 --> 00:57:20,000
those revenues over the last 20 years up

1582
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,160
until last year. and that spot has

1583
00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:23,440
turned off now because they're not

1584
00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:25,680
meeting their legal obligations uh to

1585
00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:27,359
the 20 cities and the county of

1586
00:57:27,359 --> 00:57:28,799
Sanonteo.

1587
00:57:28,799 --> 00:57:31,750
>> And my last question, sorry to Abby or

1588
00:57:31,750 --> 00:57:31,760
» And my last question, sorry to Abby or

1589
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:34,240
to Alex, have we taken any uh this is

1590
00:57:34,240 --> 00:57:36,799
beyond just the item on ahead of us

1591
00:57:36,799 --> 00:57:39,119
right now, but have we taken any action

1592
00:57:39,119 --> 00:57:40,640
with or discussions with any of our

1593
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:42,160
legislative representatives about

1594
00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:44,160
increasing is that do we know the

1595
00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:46,559
process for increasing our our sales our

1596
00:57:46,559 --> 00:57:48,400
tax capacity?

1597
00:57:48,400 --> 00:57:50,319
So an overall ceiling, you're talking

1598
00:57:50,319 --> 00:57:52,799
about exceeding the ceiling itself. It

1599
00:57:52,799 --> 00:57:55,040
would it would take special legislation

1600
00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:56,640
and in talking with our legislative

1601
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:58,640
consultant, it's a big deal to be able

1602
00:57:58,640 --> 00:58:00,559
to get above that cap.

1603
00:58:00,559 --> 00:58:03,030
>> Um right now we still have ceiling and

1604
00:58:03,030 --> 00:58:03,040
» Um right now we still have ceiling and

1605
00:58:03,040 --> 00:58:05,280
so we're still have a quarter cent here

1606
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:07,119
and so that's why we're focused on that.

1607
00:58:07,119 --> 00:58:08,799
But I know other cities have looked into

1608
00:58:08,799 --> 00:58:10,160
like a good example is South San

1609
00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:12,559
Francisco was looking at options of how

1610
00:58:12,559 --> 00:58:14,079
um you could look at that in years past.

1611
00:58:14,079 --> 00:58:15,680
I don't know where they're at uh now,

1612
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:18,400
but just overall that's the other, you

1613
00:58:18,400 --> 00:58:21,599
know, only other route in order to um

1614
00:58:21,599 --> 00:58:23,920
increase your ceiling sales tax here.

1615
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:25,030
>> Thank you very much. Thank you, Abby.

1616
00:58:25,030 --> 00:58:25,040
» Thank you very much. Thank you, Abby.

1617
00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:28,079
Thank you, Alex.

1618
00:58:28,079 --> 00:58:29,349
>> Council member Diaz Nash.

1619
00:58:29,349 --> 00:58:29,359
» Council member Diaz Nash.

1620
00:58:29,359 --> 00:58:30,630
>> Thank you through the mayor. I'll try

1621
00:58:30,630 --> 00:58:30,640
» Thank you through the mayor. I'll try

1622
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:33,440
and be quick. Uh these are largely for

1623
00:58:33,440 --> 00:58:36,240
Tim. And number one, as part of your

1624
00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:38,000
presentation,

1625
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:40,319
was I clear in understanding that there

1626
00:58:40,319 --> 00:58:43,680
was a possibility to do a follow-on poll

1627
00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:45,119
so that when we know the real

1628
00:58:45,119 --> 00:58:47,760
environment closer to the summer of what

1629
00:58:47,760 --> 00:58:50,319
other sales taxes or bond measures may

1630
00:58:50,319 --> 00:58:52,799
be up, we can go back and take the

1631
00:58:52,799 --> 00:58:54,559
temperature then.

1632
00:58:54,559 --> 00:58:58,150
>> Yeah. Um, so the idea would be that uh

1633
00:58:58,150 --> 00:58:58,160
» Yeah. Um, so the idea would be that uh

1634
00:58:58,160 --> 00:58:59,200
probably [clears throat] springtime,

1635
00:58:59,200 --> 00:59:02,240
early summer before council would have

1636
00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:04,480
to make a an official decision about

1637
00:59:04,480 --> 00:59:05,760
whether to place a measure on the

1638
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:07,040
ballot, you'd have a what's called a

1639
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:09,359
tracking survey and that would give us

1640
00:59:09,359 --> 00:59:11,839
up-to-date information in that moment in

1641
00:59:11,839 --> 00:59:14,319
time in that climate. We would also at

1642
00:59:14,319 --> 00:59:16,000
that point have a much better idea about

1643
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:17,760
what other measures might be sharing the

1644
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,960
ballot with you. And so we can also

1645
00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:23,359
build in that into the poll so we have

1646
00:59:23,359 --> 00:59:25,520
some sense of what the sort of you know

1647
00:59:25,520 --> 00:59:26,799
to the extent that it's sort of a

1648
00:59:26,799 --> 00:59:28,400
competitive landscape how that would

1649
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:30,000
play out in the poll. We could we could

1650
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:31,839
build that into the study. So that is

1651
00:59:31,839 --> 00:59:34,960
the idea. So this wouldn't be the last

1652
00:59:34,960 --> 00:59:36,559
piece of information from your voters

1653
00:59:36,559 --> 00:59:39,280
that you'd be seeing in terms of the

1654
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:41,119
their you know assessment of what a

1655
00:59:41,119 --> 00:59:42,480
sales tax might look like.

1656
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:43,990
>> Great. Thank you. That's that's good

1657
00:59:43,990 --> 00:59:44,000
» Great. Thank you. That's that's good

1658
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:45,359
news because it will be much more

1659
00:59:45,359 --> 00:59:47,839
realistic environment. My second

1660
00:59:47,839 --> 00:59:51,200
question is in reading through the uh

1661
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:54,720
the cross of the research is it a very

1662
00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:57,839
very high level generalization to say

1663
00:59:57,839 --> 01:00:01,280
that the respondents tended to be more

1664
01:00:01,280 --> 01:00:05,119
positive about immediate services like

1665
01:00:05,119 --> 01:00:07,920
public safety or filling potholes and

1666
01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:10,559
they weren't as predisposed to putting

1667
01:00:10,559 --> 01:00:15,200
money up to fix buildings which were in

1668
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:18,160
general not quite it is immediate to

1669
01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:19,520
their lives.

1670
01:00:19,520 --> 01:00:21,910
>> Yeah, you kind of have a mix of things

1671
01:00:21,910 --> 01:00:21,920
» Yeah, you kind of have a mix of things

1672
01:00:21,920 --> 01:00:24,319
with the results here, but you are

1673
01:00:24,319 --> 01:00:27,119
correct that what we normally find when

1674
01:00:27,119 --> 01:00:28,720
we're doing these types of studies is

1675
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:31,200
that voters will gravitate towards

1676
01:00:31,200 --> 01:00:33,760
services more so than facilities

1677
01:00:33,760 --> 01:00:36,400
themselves. That said, streets and

1678
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:38,240
roads, which everyone drives on and gets

1679
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:40,240
to experience every day, you know, if

1680
01:00:40,240 --> 01:00:42,559
you have needs there, those tend to be

1681
01:00:42,559 --> 01:00:44,640
kind of high level. And then the other

1682
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:46,400
is there is a growing awareness in the

1683
01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:48,720
public about infrastructure right in

1684
01:00:48,720 --> 01:00:50,319
general and the importance of taking

1685
01:00:50,319 --> 01:00:53,599
care of that. And so when I looked at

1686
01:00:53,599 --> 01:00:55,119
these the one of the nice things about

1687
01:00:55,119 --> 01:00:57,119
the sales tax option is it allows you to

1688
01:00:57,119 --> 01:00:59,680
address both services as well as capital

1689
01:00:59,680 --> 01:01:01,760
needs and infrastructure whereas a bond

1690
01:01:01,760 --> 01:01:04,079
is strictly infrastructure and so you

1691
01:01:04,079 --> 01:01:05,680
can't really deal with some of those

1692
01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:08,400
service priorities that your voters had.

1693
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:10,710
>> Thank you. And my last question in

1694
01:01:10,710 --> 01:01:10,720
» Thank you. And my last question in

1695
01:01:10,720 --> 01:01:13,359
looking at the key objections, the first

1696
01:01:13,359 --> 01:01:16,880
was taxes are already too high. Number

1697
01:01:16,880 --> 01:01:19,280
two, a fear of money being mismanaged.

1698
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:20,799
And number three, I need more

1699
01:01:20,799 --> 01:01:23,599
information. That last one, needing more

1700
01:01:23,599 --> 01:01:26,559
information. Could I interpret that as

1701
01:01:26,559 --> 01:01:30,319
an opportunity that with appropriate

1702
01:01:30,319 --> 01:01:34,079
public education on this this um

1703
01:01:34,079 --> 01:01:36,319
potential measure that there could be

1704
01:01:36,319 --> 01:01:39,200
opportunity to increase the uh the

1705
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:41,200
support?

1706
01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:43,910
>> Yeah, certainly. I mean um what that is

1707
01:01:43,910 --> 01:01:43,920
» Yeah, certainly. I mean um what that is

1708
01:01:43,920 --> 01:01:46,720
is often times you know that question of

1709
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:49,440
for those who were no or not sure on the

1710
01:01:49,440 --> 01:01:51,200
measure at the initial ballot test we

1711
01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:53,920
ask them why. Um, and when somebody

1712
01:01:53,920 --> 01:01:55,359
says, "Well, I'm just not ready to vote

1713
01:01:55,359 --> 01:01:57,119
yes because I I just need more

1714
01:01:57,119 --> 01:01:58,720
information and I want to know more

1715
01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:00,319
about what the needs are, how this money

1716
01:02:00,319 --> 01:02:02,559
is going to be used, etc., etc." That is

1717
01:02:02,559 --> 01:02:04,799
an opportunity. Certainly.

1718
01:02:04,799 --> 01:02:06,230
>> Great. Thank you. Those are all my

1719
01:02:06,230 --> 01:02:06,240
» Great. Thank you. Those are all my

1720
01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:07,599
questions.

1721
01:02:07,599 --> 01:02:10,069
>> Thank you very much.

1722
01:02:10,069 --> 01:02:10,079
» Thank you very much.

1723
01:02:10,079 --> 01:02:13,839
And, uh, I appreciate the questions that

1724
01:02:13,839 --> 01:02:15,920
have been asked so far. I did just want

1725
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:18,960
to check to see if there were any more.

1726
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:22,720
Okay. Uh, great. I I feel like I've

1727
01:02:22,720 --> 01:02:24,400
heard

1728
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:29,680
uh some concerns over

1729
01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:33,040
trying to raise funds when it may not be

1730
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:35,119
uh completely necessary, when there may

1731
01:02:35,119 --> 01:02:37,119
be additional costs related to the

1732
01:02:37,119 --> 01:02:40,400
raising of those funds. Um and concerns

1733
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:45,040
about sales tax uh as it exists in our

1734
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:48,319
city today and perhaps in our future.

1735
01:02:48,319 --> 01:02:53,280
But I I heard also uh some

1736
01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:57,280
uh facts being shared through uh our

1737
01:02:57,280 --> 01:03:00,000
city staff about

1738
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:01,680
the current uh deficit we're

1739
01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:05,040
experiencing and um some of the

1740
01:03:05,040 --> 01:03:09,040
volatility uh in our budget and what we

1741
01:03:09,040 --> 01:03:13,680
can expect in our future. Um,

1742
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:16,400
given this, I just wanted to go around

1743
01:03:16,400 --> 01:03:19,359
the room and ask uh

1744
01:03:19,359 --> 01:03:22,720
folks to let me know and the folks the

1745
01:03:22,720 --> 01:03:24,799
community know what they uh would like

1746
01:03:24,799 --> 01:03:26,559
to consider among these options. I think

1747
01:03:26,559 --> 01:03:28,400
the good news about having four options

1748
01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:31,200
is that you can pick one and uh you can

1749
01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:33,440
maybe give a brief comment uh or two as

1750
01:03:33,440 --> 01:03:36,799
to as to your your reasoning and uh

1751
01:03:36,799 --> 01:03:39,359
would anyone like to go first?

1752
01:03:39,359 --> 01:03:40,960
Yes, council members for your quick

1753
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:41,359
dates.

1754
01:03:41,359 --> 01:03:44,470
>> I'm in favor of supporting option one,

1755
01:03:44,470 --> 01:03:44,480
» I'm in favor of supporting option one,

1756
01:03:44,480 --> 01:03:47,520
um, which is the sales tax measure. Um,

1757
01:03:47,520 --> 01:03:49,039
you know, I think it's critical that we

1758
01:03:49,039 --> 01:03:51,760
keep essential services. Um, and it

1759
01:03:51,760 --> 01:03:53,599
sounds like we're going to continue to

1760
01:03:53,599 --> 01:03:55,520
be in a structural deficit where that's

1761
01:03:55,520 --> 01:03:58,000
at risk. Um, and if we want to keep the

1762
01:03:58,000 --> 01:03:59,680
status quo, that means we have to invest

1763
01:03:59,680 --> 01:04:03,280
back in the community. Um I would like

1764
01:04:03,280 --> 01:04:05,520
us to kind of explore for the broader

1765
01:04:05,520 --> 01:04:10,000
infrastructure needs that 323 million on

1766
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:11,920
um deficit that we have for capital

1767
01:04:11,920 --> 01:04:14,559
infrastructure perhaps coming back in

1768
01:04:14,559 --> 01:04:17,760
2028 with something. Um but for now I

1769
01:04:17,760 --> 01:04:19,359
think we should focus on closing the

1770
01:04:19,359 --> 01:04:21,119
existing deficit. So I'm in favor of

1771
01:04:21,119 --> 01:04:23,359
option one.

1772
01:04:23,359 --> 01:04:26,069
>> Thank you.

1773
01:04:26,069 --> 01:04:26,079
» Thank you.

1774
01:04:26,079 --> 01:04:28,870
>> Council member Newsome. I am also in

1775
01:04:28,870 --> 01:04:28,880
» Council member Newsome. I am also in

1776
01:04:28,880 --> 01:04:32,319
favor of of a measure of option one. I

1777
01:04:32,319 --> 01:04:35,039
think as council member Kadiki said that

1778
01:04:35,039 --> 01:04:37,039
we could look at a bond measure for the

1779
01:04:37,039 --> 01:04:39,359
future but I think for the 2026 we

1780
01:04:39,359 --> 01:04:41,520
should move forward with um outreach and

1781
01:04:41,520 --> 01:04:43,680
education for one.

1782
01:04:43,680 --> 01:04:45,990
>> Thank you

1783
01:04:45,990 --> 01:04:46,000
» Thank you

1784
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:47,920
deput uh deputy mayor Fernandez.

1785
01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:50,950
>> Um I am also in favor of option one as

1786
01:04:50,950 --> 01:04:50,960
» Um I am also in favor of option one as

1787
01:04:50,960 --> 01:04:52,319
someone who's serving on the ballot

1788
01:04:52,319 --> 01:04:55,920
measure committee um with council member

1789
01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,319
Gaditzki. um we got to see all of these

1790
01:04:58,319 --> 01:05:00,400
um options and in real time as the

1791
01:05:00,400 --> 01:05:01,760
polling was happening with the different

1792
01:05:01,760 --> 01:05:03,839
options and I don't think that any

1793
01:05:03,839 --> 01:05:08,240
elected official wants to tax the people

1794
01:05:08,240 --> 01:05:10,160
especially during an economic downturn

1795
01:05:10,160 --> 01:05:11,839
but this is a really challenging time

1796
01:05:11,839 --> 01:05:13,760
and there are basic services that many

1797
01:05:13,760 --> 01:05:16,799
folks need in the city. So unfortunately

1798
01:05:16,799 --> 01:05:21,680
we have to occasionally choose um

1799
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:23,920
that option and so I will be continuing

1800
01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:26,240
to support option one.

1801
01:05:26,240 --> 01:05:28,309
>> Thank you. Council member Diaz Nash.

1802
01:05:28,309 --> 01:05:28,319
» Thank you. Council member Diaz Nash.

1803
01:05:28,319 --> 01:05:31,510
>> I also will support option one and

1804
01:05:31,510 --> 01:05:31,520
» I also will support option one and

1805
01:05:31,520 --> 01:05:33,119
agreeing with my other council members

1806
01:05:33,119 --> 01:05:36,319
but also adding the fact that sales tax

1807
01:05:36,319 --> 01:05:38,559
gives us an opportunity to get revenue

1808
01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:40,880
from visitors and people who are not

1809
01:05:40,880 --> 01:05:43,760
just members of the city. So it helps to

1810
01:05:43,760 --> 01:05:47,440
spread the burden a little bit more.

1811
01:05:47,440 --> 01:05:49,190
>> Thank you very much.

1812
01:05:49,190 --> 01:05:49,200
» Thank you very much.

1813
01:05:49,200 --> 01:05:49,670
>> Yes.

1814
01:05:49,670 --> 01:05:49,680
» Yes.

1815
01:05:49,680 --> 01:05:52,069
>> To the mayor. I also just want to make

1816
01:05:52,069 --> 01:05:52,079
» To the mayor. I also just want to make

1817
01:05:52,079 --> 01:05:55,440
one comment. Sales tax does not include

1818
01:05:55,440 --> 01:05:57,599
certain things like medications.

1819
01:05:57,599 --> 01:05:59,910
>> So prescription drugs and groceries or

1820
01:05:59,910 --> 01:05:59,920
» So prescription drugs and groceries or

1821
01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:01,680
carveouts.

1822
01:06:01,680 --> 01:06:02,870
>> Thank you.

1823
01:06:02,870 --> 01:06:02,880
» Thank you.

1824
01:06:02,880 --> 01:06:07,270
>> Thank you. I too will join uh the other

1825
01:06:07,270 --> 01:06:07,280
» Thank you. I too will join uh the other

1826
01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:10,000
council members in uh supporting option

1827
01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:14,160
one at this time. Um

1828
01:06:14,160 --> 01:06:19,039
and I I do agree with those who uh have

1829
01:06:19,039 --> 01:06:21,359
shared interest in

1830
01:06:21,359 --> 01:06:23,440
reconsidering revenue options in the

1831
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:27,839
future. Um I I do appreciate the public

1832
01:06:27,839 --> 01:06:30,400
comment uh you know indicating that each

1833
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:33,280
time we do this it does cost some money.

1834
01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:39,920
Um but I I do believe that uh

1835
01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:43,359
the situation can change uh and and each

1836
01:06:43,359 --> 01:06:46,559
time we look at it uh though some of the

1837
01:06:46,559 --> 01:06:50,240
metrics may may appear similar uh it's

1838
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:52,240
it's important whenever we consider

1839
01:06:52,240 --> 01:06:53,760
going ahead with a ballot measure of

1840
01:06:53,760 --> 01:06:56,400
course which would require more expense

1841
01:06:56,400 --> 01:06:59,440
uh to to make sure we have the the best

1842
01:06:59,440 --> 01:07:01,839
knowledge and information available. And

1843
01:07:01,839 --> 01:07:07,280
so it may just be uh a a necessary cost

1844
01:07:07,280 --> 01:07:08,960
to make sure we're making the best

1845
01:07:08,960 --> 01:07:11,680
decisions we can. Um as others have

1846
01:07:11,680 --> 01:07:13,280
mentioned,

1847
01:07:13,280 --> 01:07:16,559
uh I I do think it's it's important to

1848
01:07:16,559 --> 01:07:19,839
uh shore up our budget when uh in an

1849
01:07:19,839 --> 01:07:22,319
environment with significant volatility.

1850
01:07:22,319 --> 01:07:24,960
uh we we have an opportunity here to ask

1851
01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:27,839
our community and again I just want to

1852
01:07:27,839 --> 01:07:29,440
uh

1853
01:07:29,440 --> 01:07:32,480
you know reiterate that we're we're

1854
01:07:32,480 --> 01:07:34,160
exploring something that will go before

1855
01:07:34,160 --> 01:07:35,920
the public and the voters will decide

1856
01:07:35,920 --> 01:07:39,039
what happens here. But um we can ask our

1857
01:07:39,039 --> 01:07:40,640
community for something that helps us

1858
01:07:40,640 --> 01:07:43,039
ensure that we can weather future

1859
01:07:43,039 --> 01:07:46,000
budgetary storms and continue to provide

1860
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:48,319
highquality services and maintain them

1861
01:07:48,319 --> 01:07:51,280
properly uh properly in good times and

1862
01:07:51,280 --> 01:07:54,000
in lean. Uh the city manager mentioned

1863
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:56,880
having a 10-year forecast

1864
01:07:56,880 --> 01:08:00,240
and uh I I think this helps this has the

1865
01:08:00,240 --> 01:08:01,599
potential to give us a better chance to

1866
01:08:01,599 --> 01:08:03,920
plan our budgets for multiple years at a

1867
01:08:03,920 --> 01:08:06,000
time without feeling as though we may be

1868
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:10,240
in an emergency uh every year. And uh

1869
01:08:10,240 --> 01:08:13,680
the use it or lose it uh phrase I I I

1870
01:08:13,680 --> 01:08:15,839
think is is

1871
01:08:15,839 --> 01:08:17,679
just another reason to consider that

1872
01:08:17,679 --> 01:08:20,640
because uh this may be a limited

1873
01:08:20,640 --> 01:08:22,960
opportunity to to focus money that we

1874
01:08:22,960 --> 01:08:26,319
may find ourselves spending anyway um in

1875
01:08:26,319 --> 01:08:30,640
the future toward more local services.

1876
01:08:30,640 --> 01:08:32,319
And

1877
01:08:32,319 --> 01:08:34,319
another uh comment

1878
01:08:34,319 --> 01:08:36,390
>> just adding on what you're saying,

1879
01:08:36,390 --> 01:08:36,400
» just adding on what you're saying,

1880
01:08:36,400 --> 01:08:39,520
Mayor. I think the public needs to know

1881
01:08:39,520 --> 01:08:42,640
that we're not just uh sitting here

1882
01:08:42,640 --> 01:08:44,319
moaning the fact that we're losing money

1883
01:08:44,319 --> 01:08:46,400
from the state, but that we are part of

1884
01:08:46,400 --> 01:08:48,640
an active lawsuit with all the other

1885
01:08:48,640 --> 01:08:51,600
cities in the county suing to get our

1886
01:08:51,600 --> 01:08:54,239
VLF funds. So, we are fighting very

1887
01:08:54,239 --> 01:08:56,319
proactively for that money as a

1888
01:08:56,319 --> 01:08:59,359
long-term foundation for our city. And

1889
01:08:59,359 --> 01:09:01,359
also I think it would be very important

1890
01:09:01,359 --> 01:09:03,440
to address concerns that the public has

1891
01:09:03,440 --> 01:09:06,480
raised that this if any sales tax

1892
01:09:06,480 --> 01:09:08,719
measure were to pass, there would be a

1893
01:09:08,719 --> 01:09:11,839
very strong oversight component of it

1894
01:09:11,839 --> 01:09:13,920
like with measure S where there would be

1895
01:09:13,920 --> 01:09:15,920
a committee that would look and see how

1896
01:09:15,920 --> 01:09:18,560
is the money being spent so that it

1897
01:09:18,560 --> 01:09:21,600
aligns with what if voters do vote for

1898
01:09:21,600 --> 01:09:23,920
it positively where that money aligns

1899
01:09:23,920 --> 01:09:26,719
with what they want.

1900
01:09:26,719 --> 01:09:29,910
>> Thank you for that. um Mr. Raa

1901
01:09:29,910 --> 01:09:29,920
» Thank you for that. um Mr. Raa

1902
01:09:29,920 --> 01:09:31,430
>> of the direction we need.

1903
01:09:31,430 --> 01:09:31,440
» of the direction we need.

1904
01:09:31,440 --> 01:09:32,309
>> Thank you very much.

1905
01:09:32,309 --> 01:09:32,319
» Thank you very much.

1906
01:09:32,319 --> 01:09:33,110
>> Thank you.

1907
01:09:33,110 --> 01:09:33,120
» Thank you.

1908
01:09:33,120 --> 01:09:35,749
>> Uh and thank you all

1909
01:09:35,749 --> 01:09:35,759
» Uh and thank you all

1910
01:09:35,759 --> 01:09:38,390
>> Mr. Mayor recess till next meeting.

1911
01:09:38,390 --> 01:09:38,400
» Mr. Mayor recess till next meeting.

1912
01:09:38,400 --> 01:09:39,269
>> Uh yes. Well,

1913
01:09:39,269 --> 01:09:39,279
» Uh yes. Well,

1914
01:09:39,279 --> 01:09:39,910
>> thank you Tim.

1915
01:09:39,910 --> 01:09:39,920
» thank you Tim.

1916
01:09:39,920 --> 01:09:41,749
>> That that is our one item from the study

1917
01:09:41,749 --> 01:09:41,759
» That that is our one item from the study

1918
01:09:41,759 --> 01:09:43,600
session. And uh city clerk, I think you

1919
01:09:43,600 --> 01:09:45,359
noted that we may need a little extra

1920
01:09:45,359 --> 01:09:46,799
time given our venue.

1921
01:09:46,799 --> 01:09:48,630
>> Yeah, we we might need about 10 minutes

1922
01:09:48,630 --> 01:09:48,640
» Yeah, we we might need about 10 minutes

1923
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:50,159
just to switch over. We have a couple

1924
01:09:50,159 --> 01:09:51,839
extra hoops to jump through to prepare

1925
01:09:51,839 --> 01:09:53,279
ourselves for the regular meeting. So,

1926
01:09:53,279 --> 01:09:54,880
if we could resume in 10 minutes, that

1927
01:09:54,880 --> 01:09:57,440
would be greatly appreciated. Very good.

1928
01:09:57,440 --> 01:10:02,000
In that case, uh let us do that.

1929
01:10:02,000 --> 01:10:05,159
Thank you.