Sales Tax Will Go to Voters in San Anselmo

The San Anselmo council decided Tuesday night to move forward with putting a on the November ballot. But, just how much that tax will be is something they’ll have to decide at the next council meeting on July 26.

After over an hour of debate, the council opted to move ahead with asking voters for somewhere between a 0.5 percent and 1 percent sales tax to help close a structural deficit in the town’s budget.

The town budget for 2011-12, which will not factor in an increase in revenue from a possible tax one way or the other, will attempt to close a $250,000 gap through negotiations with the labor groups and by using money from the contingency fund.

“It’s a bare bones budget,” said Town Manager Debbie Stutsman. “We have cut everything we could possibly cut.”

The council decided to put off final budget discussions for the next regular meeting.

Currently, the town gets 1 percent of all sales tax collected in San Anselmo, which amounts to approximately $1 million annually. Statewide sales tax was .

“This seems like an opportunity for a windfall,” said Helene Robertson. “An extra $1 million and all you’re doing is making the sales tax the same as it was.”

While nearly everyone who spoke said they supported San Anselmo and saw a need to funds to fix roads and public buildings, not all were as gung-ho. 

“As a taxpayer, we’re getting it from all sides,” said Jonathan Braun, who pointed out a Marin Sanitary Service rate increase was next on the agenda, the , Marin Municipal Water District just raised rates, and . “The list goes on and on.” 

Additionally, it is possible Governor Jerry Brown will bring the 1 percent statewide sales tax increase, which went away on July 1, back for an extension on the ballot in the fall, which would give voters a number of sales taxes to consider.

A general local sales tax, however, would all go directly to the town and could be spent on general fund obligations. That kind of local sales tax, which wouldn’t be earmarked for specific items, would have to be on the November general election and would require a majority vote.

Fairfax is also considering a local sales tax and .

Only Council Member Tom McInerney said he could not support a tax measure at this time.

“I think it would be wrong for San Anselmo,” said McInerney. 

A number of people spoke about the need for road repair within town – a need, Stutsman said, that would require $20 million of five years. They also pointed to decrepit town buildings, like Isabel Cook and the tower on Town Hall.

But, McInerney was not the only person that pointed out that over 80 percent of town costs are employee costs.

“Everyone is paying more for retirement costs, healthcare costs; their wages are stagnant or going down and the public sector employees aren’t facing the same challenges with that,” said McInerney, who argued that with a $1 million windfall there’d be no incentive to make further “tough decisions” regarding pensions and healthcare costs.

But Council Member Barbara Thornton pointed to a number of cost-cutting measures that the town has already taken, including a tiered retirement system, consolidation efforts of some services, and joint cost-sharing of county projects.

“Don’t think we’re not addressing the camel under the rug in the room, but right now we’ve got the tower that’s falling down,” said Council Member Kay Coleman, referencing the town hall tower.

The council directed staff to come back with ballot language for a four-year local sales tax that would go to a vote in November. Whether the tax will be 0.5 percent or 1 percent will be discussed at the next council meeting.