Source: http://votersedge.kpbs.org/ca/en/ballot/election/area/73/measures/measure/3563?election_authority_id=49
Timestamp: 2019-10-22 17:09:31
Document Index: 165143981

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1']

Measure O - 2/3 Approval Required
40,348 votes yes (61.6%)
25,184 votes no (38.4%)
The City Of Santa Rosa Vital City Services Measure: To provide temporary funding to recover from the October 2017 fires and preserve city services including maintaining 9-1-1 emergency response times and neighborhood police patrols; repairing potholes, streets and sidewalks; rebuilding firefighting infrastructure and fire prevention; shall the City of Santa Rosa enact a one-quarter cent sales tax for six years only, generating approximately $9 million annually, for unrestricted general fund purposes, subject to annual audits, with all revenue staying in Santa Rosa?
This measure would amend Chapter 3-29 of the Santa Rosa City Code to establish a new temporary 1/4 cent sales tax within the City of Santa Rosa, raising the City’s sales tax to 8.875% for a period of six years.
The additional 1/4 cent tax would expire automatically on March 31, 2025 (or, if the initial operative date of the tax is later than April 1, 2019, at the end of six years from that operative date).
The proposed tax is a general sales tax and is anticipated to raise approximately $9 million annually for its duration. All revenues from the tax would be placed in the City’s General Fund and could be used for any City purpose, including general City operations and programs such as police and fire services, street and sidewalk maintenance, public improvements, park and recreational programs, planning and economic development, housing and homeless services, internal City services, and any other governmental function or program. The proposed 1/4 cent sales tax is in addition to, and does not replace, existing sales taxes within Santa Rosa. The tax would be administered by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
The proposed temporary sales tax is authorized by California Revenue and Taxa- tion Code Section 7285.9. It requires approval by two-thirds of the City Council and a majority of the qualified voters voting on the measure. On July 24, 2018, the Santa Rosa City Council considered the measure, and all six Council members present voted affirmatively to place this measure on the ballot. One Council mem- ber was absent from the meeting.
If you desire a copy of the measure, please call the City Clerk at (707) 543-3015 and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you.
s/ Sue A. Gallagher City Attorney
Vote Yes on O to keep Santa Rosa safe and strong. Measure O is a temporary emergency measure to protect vital city services and expedite our recovery from last year’s devastating fires.
The fires took a heavy toll on our community and our city budget. The effort to fight the fire, extensive cleanup and rebuilding effort drained the City’s emergency reserves. Prior to the fire, Santa Rosa was already facing a multimillion dollar budget deficit and the fires have taken away our safety net. Unless we generate new revenue now, we must begin making deep cuts.
Measure O is a temporary emergency 1/4 cent sales tax increase that will provide $9 million annually in locally controlled funding for six years only. These funds cannot be taken away by the State or go to other communities. Every penny stays here in Santa Rosa for local services. Annual audits are mandatory to ensure funds are spent properly.
Essential purchases like food and medicine are exempt from sales tax and those who visit and shop in Santa Rosa will pay their fair share. After six years this temporary emergency funding will automatically expire.
Last year we all saw the importance of having well-trained and equipped firefighters, paramedics and police officers at the ready. Measure O ensures our first responders have the tools and resources needed to respond quickly in an emergency. Yes on O will help upgrade aging emergency communication systems and preserve rapid 9-1-1 emergency response times. It will fund fire prevention plans to help avoid future disasters.
Measure O also helps Santa Rosa rebuild and restore aging and fire-damaged infrastructure and facilities, including repairing potholes and deteriorating streets and sidewalks.
Please support this temporary emergency measure to get Santa Rosa back on its feet and stay safe and strong.
www.srcity.org/Measures
s/ Chris Coursey Mayor of Santa Rosa
s/ Oscar A. Pardo Coffey Park Resident
SANTA ROSA POLICE MANAGEMENT ASSOCs/ David Linscomb, Vice-President
s/ Stan Lindsay
Retired S.R. Finance Director
s/ Janet Condron
Former Santa Rosa Mayor
Read this measure carefully. Following the flowery language about recovering from last October’s fires, about preserving city services, about maintaining emergency response times and pothole repairs, are five little words that betray the true nature of this tax - “for unrestricted general fund purposes.”
Those five words tell you that all of the language about fires, emergencies and potholes is just meaningless salesmanship. “For unrestricted general fund purposes” means the current city council and any successor councils can use those funds for any purposes they choose. Got a backlog of upgrades and improvements you want to make at city hall? These funds are available. Got a pet project you want to fund or a special interest group you want to reward for supporting your reelection campaign? These funds are available.
Remember also that just two years ago voters renewed an earlier sales tax. The original tax in 2010 was billed as a temporary tax necessary to weather the financial crisis at the time. In 2016, the crisis had eased and the tax was set to expire so its renewal was billed as necessary to preserve existing city services. This tax is also being sold as a temporary tax, but as the lessons of 2010 and 2016 confirm, there is no such thing as a temporary tax.
Ultimately, this measure comes down to trust. Do you trust your city councilmembers to use these monies as promised? Do you trust their successors will do the same?
If monies are needed to aid fire recovery, fine. Tell your councilmembers to come back with a measure committing the funds to that purpose. Until then, tell them you will not allow the October fires to be used as a convenient excuse to raise general fund, non-specific taxes.
Vote no on Measure O.
Measure O is just the latest in a never ending parade of so-called temporary sales tax increases. This time we’re being told the increase is necessary for fire recovery and to maintain emergency services. Last time it was to get us through the economic recession.
As laudatory as those reasons sound, neither tax is or was specifically earmarked for its stated purposes. Both taxes are for unrestricted general fund purposes to be used however the current or future political winds may blow. And just like its predecessor, if Measure O is approved, it will reappear in few years with the argument being made that its renewal has become necessary to maintain existing service levels.
Measure O is such bad policy that the city council itself could not unanimously agree to put it on the ballot. It appears here only after a split vote of the council.
If the city council cannot agree that this tax is necessary, should you? Please vote no on Measure O.
Section 3-29.020. PURPOSE. This ordinance is adopted to achieve the following, among other purposes, and directs that the provisions hereof be interpreted in order to accomplish those purposes:
A. To impose a general retail transactions and use tax in accordance with the provisions of Part 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and Section 7285.9 of Part 1.7 of Division 2 which authorizes the City to adopt this tax ordinance which shall be operative if a majority of the electors voting on the measure vote to approve the imposition of the tax at an election called for that purpose.
C. To adopt a general retail transactions and use tax ordinance that imposes a tax and provides a measure therefore that can be administered and collected by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration in a manner that adapts itself as fully as practicable to, and requires the least possible deviation from, the existing statutory and administrative procedures followed by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration in administering and collecting the California State Sales and Use Taxes.
D. To adopt a general retail transactions and use tax ordinance that can be administered in a manner that will be, to the greatest degree possible, consistent with the provisions of Part 1.6 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, minimize the cost of collecting the transactions and use taxes, and at the same time, minimize the burden of record keeping upon persons subject to taxation under the provisions of this ordinance.
Section 3-29.030. CONTRACT WITH STATE. Prior to the operative date, the City shall contract with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to perform all functions incident to the administration and operation of this transactions and use tax ordinance; provided, that if the City shall not have contracted with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration prior to the operative date, it shall nevertheless so contract and in such a case the operative date shall be the first day of the first calendar quarter following the execution of such a contract.
Section 3-29.040. TRANSACTIONS TAX RATE. For the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, a general tax is hereby imposed upon all retailers in the incorporated territory of the City at the rate of one quarter of one percent (0.25%) of the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale of all tangible personal property sold at retail in said territory on and after the operative date of this ordinance.
Section 3-29.050. PLACE OF SALE. For the purposes of this ordinance, all retail sales are consummated at the place of business of the retailer unless the tangible personal property sold is delivered by the retailer or the retailer’s agent to an out-of-state destination or to a common carrier for delivery to an out-of-state destination. The gross receipts from such sales shall include delivery charges, when such charges are subject to the state sales and use tax, regardless of the place to which delivery is made. In the event a retailer has no permanent place of business in the State or has more than one place of business, the place or places at which the retail sales are consummated shall be determined under rules and regulations to be prescribed and adopted by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
Section 3-29.050. USE TAX RATE. A general excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use or other consumption in the City of tangible personal property purchased from any retailer on and after the operative date of this ordinance for storage, use or other consumption in said territory at the rate of one quarter of one percent (0.25%) of the sales price of the property. The sales price shall include delivery charges when such charges are subject to state sales or use tax regard- less of the place to which delivery is made.
Section 3-29.050. ADOPTION OF PROVISIONS OF STATE LAW. Except as otherwise provided in this ordinance and except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of Part 1.6 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, all of the provisions of Part 1 (commencing with Section 6001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code are hereby adopted and made a part of this ordinance as though fully set forth herein.
Section 3-29.060. LIMITATIONS ON ADOPTION OF STATE LAW AND COLLECTION OF USE TAXES. In adopting the provisions of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code:
1. The word “State” is used as a part of the title of the State Controller, State Treasurer, State Board of Control, State Board of Equalization, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, State Treasury, or the Constitution of the State of California;
a. Provide an exemption from this tax with respect to certain sales, storage, use or other consumption of tangible personal property which would not otherwise be exempt from this tax while such sales, storage, use or other consumption remain subject to tax by the State under the provisions of
Part 1 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or;
b. Imposethistaxwithrespecttocertainsales,storage, use or other consumption of tangible personal property which would not be subject
to tax by the state under the said provision of that code.
Section 3-29.070. PERMIT NOT REQUIRED. If a seller’s permit has been issued to a retailer under Section 6067 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, an additional transactor’s permit shall not be required by this ordinance.
Section 3-29.080. EXEMPTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS.
A. There shall be excluded from the measure of the transactions tax and the use tax the amount of any sales tax or use tax imposed by the State of California or by any city, city and county, or county pursuant to the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law or the amount of any state-administered sales or use tax.
2. Sales of property to be used outside the City which is shipped to a point outside the City, pursuant to the contract of sale, by delivery to such point by the retailer or the retailer’s agent, or by delivery by the retailer to a carrier for shipment to a consignee at such point. For the purposes of this paragraph, delivery to a point outside the City shall be satisfied:
a. With respect to vehicles (other than commercial vehicles) subject to registration pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 4000) of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code, aircraft licensed in compliance with Section 21411 of the Public Utilities Code, and undocumented vessels registered under Division 3.5 (commencing with Section 9840) of the Vehicle Code by registration to an out-of-City address and by a declaration under penalty of perjury, signed by the
buyer, stating that such address is, in fact, his or her principal place of residence; and
b. Withrespecttocommercialvehicles,byregistration to a place of business out-of-City and declaration under penalty of perjury, signed
by the buyer, that the vehicle will be operated from that address.
1. The gross receipts from the sale of which have been subject to a sales tax under any state-administered transactions and use tax ordinance.
D. Any person subject to use tax under this ordinance may credit against that tax any sales tax or reimbursement for sales tax paid to a district imposing, or retailer liable for a sales tax pursuant to Part 1.6 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code with respect to the sale to the person of the property, the storage, use or other consumption of which is subject to the use tax.
Section 3-29.090. AMENDMENTS. All amendments subsequent to the effective date of this ordinance to Part 1 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code relating to sales and use taxes and which are not inconsistent with Part 1.6 and Part 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and all amendments to Part 1.6 and Part 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, shall automatically become a part of this ordinance, provided however, that no such amendment shall operate so as to affect the rate of tax imposed by this ordinance.
Section 3-29.100. ENJOINING COLLECTION FORBIDDEN. No injunction or writ of mandate or other legal or equitable process shall issue in any suit, action or proceeding in any court against the State or the City, or against any officer of the State or the City, to prevent or enjoin the collection under this ordinance, or Part 1.6 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, of any tax or any amount of tax required to be collected.
Section 3-29.110. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 3-27.120. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance, following its adoption by at least 5 affirmative votes of the Council, and its publication in accordance with the Government Code, shall become effective upon the approval of the tax imposed hereunder by more than 50 percent of the voters of the City voting thereon at an election called for that purpose. The “Operative Date” of the tax imposed hereunder shall be as provided in section 3-29.015.
Section 3-29.130. TERMINATION DATE. The authority to levy the tax imposed by this ordinance shall extend only through March 31, 2025, or, if the Operative Date is later than April 1, 2019, at the end of six (6) years from the Operative Date, as provided in section 3-29.015.”
This ordinance was introduced by the Council of the City of Santa Rosa on July 24, 2018.
VOTERS DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this_____ day of________, 2018.
AYES: (6) Mayor Coursey, Vice Mayor Rogers, Council Members Combs, Olivares, Sawyer, Schwedhelm
ABSENT: (1) Council Member Tibbetts ABSTAIN: (0)
ATTEST: ___________________ City Clerk APPROVED: _______________________
Santa Rosa o)cials say tax measure needed to curb cuts, avoid layoffs — October 6, 2018 Press Democrat
Op-ed - PD Editorial: Measure O will help Santa Rosa recover from the fire - Press Democrat, Editorial Board October 13, 2018
Op-ed - Santa Rosa’s sales tax parade - Press Democrat, DAN DRUMMOND October 20, 2018