The Menlo Park City Council may soon decide whether to ask voters in November to approve a new tax — such as a parcel or utility tax — to help balance the city’s budget.
The decision could come at the council’s July 18 meeting when the city will be armed with results of a survey of registered voters, members of the businesses community and commercial property owners, who were asked what kind and size of a tax they would support.
The survey results are due to be released shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, July 13, on the city’s Web site, MenloPark.org. The results will be contained in a staff report attached to the council’s July 18 meeting agenda, said Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour.
Putting a tax measure on the ballot requires support by three council members, and so far only two — Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen — have indicated they would favor asking voters to decide.
Voters, said Ms. Fergusson, should be given the opportunity to choose between a tax increase or service cuts.
The deadline to put a tax measure on the November ballot is August 11.
A general-purpose tax, which would not be limited to a specific city service, would require a simple majority to pass.
Of 1,600 surveys mailed to business and commercial property owners, 119 were completed and returned to the city, said Ms. Seymour. In addition, some 400 registered voters responded to a phone survey.
The survey was conducted by Godbe Research of Half Moon Bay at a cost to the city of $24,000.
Is a tax necessary?
The council recently approved a budget that would increase spending by 9 percent over the fiscal year that ended June 30.To spend this much, the city plans to draw $1.85 million from the city’s unallocated reserves of $21 million. If a new tax is adopted, the amount drawn from reserves could be reduced or eliminated.
Councilwoman Fergusson said if a new tax is not adopted, the council will be forced to make “another round of deep cuts, which may possibly affect basic city services.”
But Councilwoman Lee Duboc said it’s “too early to tell” if the city needs a new tax. She noted that Stanford University’s hotel and office complex on Sand Hill Road, approved by the council in June, is expected to bring in additional revenue.
She also noted that the November ballot may be “overcrowded” with state and county tax increases. “I don’t want to put something on the ballot if it’s an automatic no,” she said. “The last thing I would want to do is overwhelm voters.”
Three of the five council seats are also up for election in November.
About 90 percent of participants in the city’s February budget workshops supported at least a 1 percent tax on utility bills to help balance the city’s budget. Ms. Fergusson said the workshop results “clearly indicate” that residents support putting a tax measure on the ballot.
A 1 percent utility tax would cost a household with about $175 in monthly utility bills an additional $21 a year, and add about $800,000 a year to the city’s coffers, according to a staff report.
An election on the measure would cost the city about $27,000 — $1.50 per registered voter.
