Contra Costa Board of Supervisors Pass on Public Safety Tax for 2016 Election

On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to pass on a county wide special tax to fund police and fire services in 2016. Instead, its likely they bring the tax back in 2018.

It was estimated that a voter-approved Transactions Tax for the unincorporated area of Contra Costa County at 0.5% is estimated to generate $8.5 million in year one while a countywide tax at 0.5% would generate approximately $79.1 million.

While the Board of Supervisors liked the idea of going for the tax, they did not think the timing was right or that they were prepared to ask the public for the funds. They also wanted to provide the Contra Costa Transportation Authority an easier route to passing their tax which will be on the ballot in 2016 which would raise $2.3 billion over 25-years to fund transit projects.

Shawn Welch, president of the Contra Costa Deputy Sheriffs Association, highlighted the safety issue they face with just 12-deputies on duty covering 168,000 people from Discovery Bay to Richmond. He encouraged some more thought into the process.

“A sales tax, does it impact just the unincorporated areas? No. We have jails, deputies in courts, custody alternative, service unit, coroners, lab unit and property and emergency services. I know it’s difficult to pass a tax, some have tried before, but I would like to do some discovery here and look into the issue and see if it will benefit us all,” explained Welch.

Vince Wells, president of the Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa, Local 1230, stated his support for looking into the issue further—suggesting putting together an Ad-Hoc Committee.

“We went through fire station closures in several fire districts and one of the problems is we are funded by a single resource, property taxes generate 90% of our revenue the other from fees for service,” explained Wells. “Having some type of tax in a county this size that supports public safety is prudent business…We would ask you support looking into this matter.”

The Board of Supervisors admitted during their discussion the tax faces several obstacles from lack of preparation time, creating a campaign strategy and gaining appropriate stakeholders, educating the public and recent polls showing public support was not there. They also noted several cities are currently at their tax.

This kind of tax would also require Legislation at the state level and the Board would also need to decide if this was a “special” or “general” tax. Several cities would also surpass the maximum combined rate of sales, transactions and use taxes that can be imposed in California at 9.5% (the “cap). Meanwhile, if the tax was for the unincorporated areas only, special legislation is not needed.

Highlighting her own experience with a closed fire station and being served by the local sheriffs, Supervisor Mary Piepho urged the board not to rush forward without a well thought out plan which created a solid foundation for the tax to succeed.

“Not one single member of the public has approached me saying I want to pay a new tax for public safety,” said Piepho.

She noted that the CCTA has been putting in effort for nearly 2-years and built a strong effort and consensus building and that they need to do the same.

“Our effort and desires to address concerns that we see within the county to rush forward, what I see is a very sensitive tax proposal no matter which tax vehicle we choose without a strong foundation behind it would meet failure. We will also need a strong foundation and campaign plan to be successful. Funding for that plan needs to be identified, proponents need to be identified and opponents need to be identified,” explained Piepho. “We don’t have time to tee it up in the 2016 election cycle in my view.”

She urged the Board to get out of the way for CCTA and work on their own responsible plan while exploring it with stakeholders from across the county.

Supervisor Federal Glover agreed, saying he did not want to get into the way of Transportation efforts.

“We need the planning to start with the public protection committee to get a group together to start having discussions that could go out in 2-years or 4-years,” said Glover.

Supervisor Candace Andersen stated the need for more police and fire but highlighted the confusion that may occur on who is receiving the tax such as which fire departments and police departments—she called putting the tax on the 2016 ballot putting the chicken before the egg without proper planning. She also noted it would have a hard time passing.

“I thought about this and why would that be. I talked to people and one of the reasons and the public does expect us to run the public government and services within the taxes we already have,” explained Andersen.

She further highlighted the public want problems solved by brick-and-mortar solutions and expect them to have accountability with taxes.

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff disagreed with Supervisor Andersen stating people will support taxes when they see a direct benefit highlighting they will support transportation because they use the roads every day and want it improved—people do not call police or fire every day.

“We need to do something, but I don’t think we can do it in 2016,” said Mitchoff.

Mitchoff stated she did want to do a countywide tax and they do need state legislation and they do not have the time to do it right now for 2016. She encouraged the board to stay focused and move this idea forward as early as 2018.

Supervisor John Gioia stated the difficulty in passing a countywide tax but noted Contra Costa does have a weaker property tax base to draw from for local services. He supported the idea, but not in 2016.

The Board passed a motion 5-0 to send this to Public Protection Committee.