Sales tax idea nixed again

For the second time in as many meetings, the Butte County Board of Supervisors went against the wishes of every public-safety agency in the county, when it declined to allow voters to decide on a proposed half-cent sales tax slated for police and fire protection.

At the last meeting, Richvale Supervisor Curt Josiassen and Paradise Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi both voted against placing an initiative on the November ballot that would have asked voters whether to fund public-safety programs with a half-cent sales tax increase. At the time, the supervisors said the initiative did not provide enough of a guarantee that the money raised—an expected $11 million—would be sent to local fire and police agencies, which are struggling this year due to state and local budget cuts.

This time, the two supervisors, after listening to a host of arguments both for and against a new initiative plan that had been modified to alleviate their concerns, said they had made up their minds to oppose it. Since a majority of four board members was needed to pass the plan along to voters, the issue died without a motion.

Before that decision was made, about two dozen people gave the board their opinions of the proposed tax hike. Representatives from fire protection and law enforcement, along with city representatives from Gridley and Biggs, all told the board that the money the proposed tax would generate was desperately needed in order to continue providing the levels of police and fire service county residents are accustomed to. Probation Chief John Wardell told the board that budget cuts had already forced the early release from Juvenile Hall of 12 young offenders serving time for crimes ranging from auto theft to felony burglary and assault.

Supporters of the initiative plan outnumbered detractors by a factor of almost 4 to 1. A few speakers said they would personally vote against the tax should it appear on the November ballot but nevertheless urged the board to at least let the public decide.

Oroville Supervisor-elect Bill Connelly, who took flak during the March election after voicing his philosophical support for a public-safety sales tax hike, also urged the board to “let your constituents make this decision.” The proposed initiative would have needed support from two-thirds of the electorate in order to pass, a not-altogether-likely outcome in conservative Butte County.

Opposition to the initiative came from three members of the local Libertarian party, two members of the Butte County Taxpayers Association and local Republican Party bagman John Gillander, who told the board that more money could be raised by eliminating government waste, paying lower salaries to public defenders and instructing the D.A.'s Office to strike more plea bargains.

“This is like a full-employment-for-lawyers tax on the poor,” he said.

Yamaguchi also cast himself as a champion of the poor in opposing the plan, saying he had heard from a constituent who made around $18,000 a year and couldn’t afford any new taxes.

“As I look around at some of the salaries in this room, it’s easy to say, ‘I can easily afford this.’ However, I have a constituency that cannot easily afford this.”

The proposed tax hike, if spread evenly among Butte County’s adult population, would have amounted to about $71 a year, with half that amount slated to “sunset” after two years.

Josiassen said he opposed the initiative on behalf of county business owners, his rural constituency and himself.

“You want me to send this to the voters?” he asked. “I don’t, because guess who’s going to get hung for it? Me—not the voters.”

Josiassen, who appeared angry as he denounced the plan, also said that the woeful scenarios presented by county public-safety agencies are probably not as dire as they have been made out to be. The Sheriff’s, D.A. and Probation departments will collectively shed 49 positions this year due to a $10 million shortfall in the county budget. In addition, the $5 million fund the county had built up for replacing law enforcement vehicles has been liquidated.

Some sources indicate that county employees and public-safety agencies are already considering mounting a ballot initiative campaign in order to bypass the board and make their case for increased fire and police funding directly to the public. But such a campaign would be costly, time-consuming and fraught with the risk of failure. It would take months to enlist the more than 6,000 signatures needed to qualify such an initiative, and would probably force a special election next March, costing the county another $230,000.