San Bernardino turns crime into tax issue
12:36 AM PDT on Wednesday, August 9, 2006
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SAN BERNARDINO - Declaring a public-safety emergency, the San Bernardino City Council will ask voters to pay more in taxes to fund crime-fighting efforts in a city ranked one of California's most dangerous.
Council members voted 5-0 Tuesday to put a quarter-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 7 ballot that would help pay for more than two dozen new police officers.
Crime has dominated city politics this year and has been first-term Mayor Pat Morris' main focus since taking office in March.
Fifty-eight homicides last year was the city's highest in a decade. So far this year, 35 people have been homicide victims, including seven children. A national survey has ranked San Bernardino as California's third most dangerous city and the 18th most dangerous in the country.
"All of the studies show that beefing up police presence in a city together with smart policing strategies will make a profound difference in the crime rate," Morris said.
The increase would boost the sales-tax rate in the city from 7.75 percent to 8 percent and generate as much as $5.6 million a year. The extra sales tax would expire in 15 years.
The city's goal is to hire 40 new police officers. The council approved funding for 14 in June, but officials say the city has lacked the resources to hire the rest.
City officials were bolstered by a recent survey showing nine in 10 city voters were concerned about crime. The survey indicated that most city voters would support a sales tax to fund more police officers.
The poll, Morris said, is proof that voters believe public safety is "a matter of greatest concern."
Still, the mayor vowed a major education campaign to convince voters to approve the extra tax levy in November.
The 5-0 vote -- with Councilman Chas Kelly absent and former Councilman Gordon McGinnis' seat vacant -- doesn't mean the council is uniformly behind the extra tax.
Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said her vote was to let the city's residents decide and did not reflect support or opposition to the tax.
The measure on the ballot would impose a general sales tax increase, which requires approval of a simple majority of voters. A general sales tax vote must be consolidated with a regularly scheduled general election, except in cases of an emergency.
Since the next general city election is not until next year, the council declared an emergency Tuesday.
A general sales tax increase cannot be used to fund a specific purpose. Such a tax increase would require two-thirds voter approval.
But in an effort to win support, the measure includes an advisory question asking voters to approve a plan to spend the money for "more police officers, anti-gang and anti-crime operations, and other urgent general fund programs."
The measure also would create a citizens oversight committee to review how the city is spending the extra revenue.
City Attorney Jim Penman proposed an alternative measure that included the phrase "street paving" in the advisory question. That wording, he said, would put the city on safe legal ground if someone tried to challenge the measure by contending it is a specific tax.
Morris and council members Dennis Baxter, Esther Estrada and Rikke Van Johnson disagreed and won out.
"My constituents are very adamant: This must go to police," Baxter said.
But McCammack continued to stress that the council could spend the money however it chose and wanted residents to fully understand the issue.
Meanwhile, the council voted Tuesday to consider a plan to reduce the city's utility tax, one of the state's highest as a concession to business owners who might be concerned about a higher sales tax.
If approved by the council, the tax rate would drop from 7.93 percent to 7.83 percent. The lower rate would bring in about $300,000 less in revenue, the city estimates.
Reach Duane W. Gang at 909-806-3062 or dgang@PE.com
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