BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Carlos officials are looking at placing a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot to help pay for its plans for downtown and cover a possible budget shortfall. If voters reject the tax increase, one of the things the city may cut is funding for the Sheriff’s Office.
The city may have a budget deficit estimated between $500,000 to $1 million annually over the next 10 years, and a tax measure would help, Administrative Services Director Rebecca Mendenhall told the city’s planning commission on Monday.
If a half-cent sales tax gets approved, it will generate $6 million to support city services such as downtown improvement, road maintenance, parks and public safety for 14 years, Mendenhall said.
“Our costs are exceeding our revenues,” Mendenhall said. If the city decides not to place the measure on the ballot, it will have to look at reducing services, such as its police services.
San Carlos is one of the cities in the county that contracts the sheriff’s office for police services, and it has saved them $2 million yearly, according to Mendenhall.
The city gets revenue from sales taxes, but it receives only 11 cents of each dollar, while the rest goes to the state, county and transit agencies, Mendenhall said. The city also gets property taxes, under which it receives about 13 cents of every dollar collected, with the rest going to schools, Mendenhall said.
Spending
The proposed tax will help the city with projects such as the bicyclist bridge at Highway 101, which has increased in cost from $62 million to $112 million, Mendenhall said.
The city is looking to make improvements after Andrea Vallebueno, 31, of Palo Alto, died after colliding with a car on Holly Street near the Highway 101 overpass on Nov. 16, 2024.
The tax measure would just add a few pennies per purchase, Mendenhall said. For example, with a $10 purchase, the tax would add five cents, she said. The tax would not be added to groceries, medicine, diapers or feminine hygiene products, according to Mendenhall.
65% support
A survey the city conducted in October showed that 65% of residents would support a local sales tax to help the city, according to Mendenhall.
Commissioner Twisha Anand supported the tax, but the city needs to be mindful of how it can affect small businesses, Anand said.
The city must take initiative now before any other agency decides to also place a sales tax measure on the ballot because of the county’s cap of 9.875%, Mendenhall said.
Facing BART tax
The proposed tax would be on the same ballot as the bailout half-cent sales tax measure for public transit in the Bay Area, such as BART, Muni and Caltrain, Mendenhall said. But the transit tax doesn’t count for the county’s cap, according to Mendenhall.
If both taxes pass, that will raise San Carlos’ sales tax to 10.37%, among the highest in the Bay Area.
Council previously supported the idea of the tax to help fund projects, such as turning the 700 block of Laurel Street into a promenade.
Councilwoman claims community is demanding spending
“Our community wants a lot of things. We keep hearing a lot of big projects ahead of us, and we do need to prepare and think ahead to support all of these community requests,” Councilwoman Sara McDowell said at a Nov. 10 meeting.
Council will hear the proposed tax measure on June 22 to decide whether to place it on the ballot, according to Mendenhall.
No longer “The City of Good Living”.
Having left after 58 years, San Carlos has become another dump along the Peninsula when it used to be the eye in the hurricane.
When CR “Bob” Allen was City Manager, San Carlos always had a balanced budget with surpluses. Maltbie Jr has run the place into the ground.
I’m pretty sure “Maltbie Jr.” retired after 16 straight years of budget surpluses and Bob Allen retired 40 years ago. San Carlos has a very simple choice. It can either raise the sales tax and put that money to work improving their community or some other county wide agency will pass a sales tax measure and that money will go elsewhere. Either way residents are going to pay for it. This is San Carlos’ last chance to invest in itself before the cap is reached and the opportunity is gone for good. Since San Carlos is one of the few cities in the County without any special tax going elsewhere for meals or shopping is most likely gonna see folks paying the higher sales tax those cities already passed, so clearly you don’t spend much time gathering actual facts before spewing over your keyboard.
No more restaurant meals in San Carlos for me. No more Pazzo and no more Kabul.
Great way to kill business with pri es for everything including gas and housing skyrocketing.
Maybe San Carlos should learn to live within its means !!! There are few at city hall who are over paid and don’t earn their keep.
When they talk about a “possible budget shortfall,” they really mean that they’d like to give everybody raises but need more money. Any organization can cut its expenses to match its revenues. But government never wants to cut when it can raise taxes.
They always threaten public safety to get their bills passed – how about until we can balance our budget stop spending money on thinsg like upgrading parks and the downtown – one of the first responsiblities of government to to protect it’s people –
So if the tax is approved, the city will spend money on downtown and other capital improvements. But if it’s turned down, they’ll have to lay off police officers?
Sounds like the “one bicyclist bridge” costing $60m more can wait or be eliminated from the list altogether…