Redwood City, California, Measure RR, Sales Tax (November 2018)
| Measure RR: Redwood City Sales Tax |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 6, 2018 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local sales tax Expires in: No expiration |
| Related articles |
| Local sales tax on the ballot November 6, 2018 ballot measures in California San Mateo County, California ballot measures City tax on the ballot |
| See also |
| Redwood City, California |
A sales tax measure was on the ballot for Redwood City voters in San Mateo County, California, on November 6, 2018. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of authorizing a local 0.5 percent sales tax to fund general city purposes. |
| A no vote was a vote against authorizing a local 0.5 percent sales tax to fund general city purposes. |
Election results
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Redwood City, California, Measure RR, Sales Tax (November 2018) |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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19,207 | 67.59% | ||
| No | 9,210 | 32.41% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Shall the ordinance to fund essential city services such as protecting rapid 911 emergency response times; preventing the number of on-duty firefighters/paramedics/police officers; continuing after-school/recreation programs for children; and maintaining local library hours/programs by establishing a 0.5% sales tax, providing approximately $8,000,000 annually until repealed by voters, with exemptions for essential purchases like food/medicine, annual audits and all funds staying in Redwood City, be adopted?[2] |
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Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Redwood City City Attorney:
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The City Council of Redwood City voted 7-0 to place Measure RR on the ballot. The measure would establish a one-half of one cent use and transaction (sales) tax for general city purposes. The proposed City of Redwood City Essential Services Protection Measure has the following key components:
The City faces significant fiscal challenges in the coming years, mirroring dynamics throughout California. Though new development and increased downtown activity have increased property tax receipts and somehwat offset sales tax declines, projected revenue growth is not sufficient to cover increasing operating costs. The City is projected to have a multi-million dollar deficit in 2018-19 growing to over $12 million annually (10% of its operating budget) in five years, and increasing after that. To meet the deficit, the City has raised fees on development activity ($2 million) and made cost reductions in this year's adopted budget (approximately $3.7 million) including the elimination of 14.5 (vacant) and 1 filled staff positions. The City also has proactively moved to contain pension costs, requiring the highest employee contributions in the Bay Area and providing more modest benefits to new hires. Despite these efforts, the deficit will grow unless new revenues are generated or more significant cuts are made to essential City services. If the measure is not approved by voters, the City will have to meet a budget deficit by making deeper reductions to City services such as police, fire, and paramedic services, library service hours, after school programs, and the like. Approximately 60% of the City's General Fund is budgeted for essential public safety services, including police, fire, and paramedics. If the proposed measure is approved by the voters, the annual General Fund revenues from the sales tax are estimated at around $8.0 million. This amount would fluctuate depending upon economic conditions. Funds generated from this half-cent sales tax would be locally generated and would therefore be protected by the State Constitution from being captured by the State.[2] |
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| —Redwood City City Attorney[1] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Redwood City, California.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 San Mateo County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder and Elections, "November 6, 2018 Election Information," accessed October 8, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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