City looks for input on spending

The Healdsburg City Council would like to know how you’d spend the estimated $1 million that will be collected annually from the new half-cent sales tax increase.
The city has released a survey asking residents how the money should be spent and will use the results as a starting point during a special planning session in May.
“From the very beginning, we said we were going to have a transparent process and the council wants to follow through on that,” said City Manager Marjie Pettus. “We want to know what the priorities are of community members.”
Residents approved the sales tax increase on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot, giving the city council full discretion over how the additional funds are budgeted. During the campaign for the tax increase, the city identified four main priorities — public safety, street maintenance and repair, economic development and addressing deferred maintenance of city facilities.
Aside from the sales tax increase, the city has already started to see an increase in revenue from the beginnings of a turn-around in the economy. Because of an uptick in property tax, sales tax and Transient Occupancy Tax revenue so far this fiscal year, the city is likely to be in a much better position closing out the 2012-13 budget than originally projected last summer.
“When we adopted the 2012-2013 budget, we had a $800,000 deficit,” Pettus said. “Between department heads curbing spending, and sales, property and TOT taxes creeping up and some one-time money from the county, that (deficit) definitely is going to be much smaller.”
The city has made a series of cuts over the last few years that has resulted in a staff reduction of 18 percent — most notably in the police and fire departments.
Pettus said there are options of the Measure V funds that include re-instating officers, including a downtown foot patrol officer, school resource officer or additional firefighters, but that the council will likely be mindful of allocating funds that will be ongoing expenses, like salaries.
“We can add back staff, but what if three years from now, things dip again,” she said. Instead, Pettus said the community may want to see the money spent on one-time projects that will be a community benefit.
“Maybe people will want to put money into the Villa, or want us to tackle street repair or construct sidewalks where there are none,” she said.
The survey, which will be sent out in utility bills and is available on the city’s website, asks residents to list a percentage next to various funding options that includes everything from downtown foot patrol to repairing potholes or replacing benches.
Measure V raised Healdsburg’s sales tax from 8 percent to 8.5 percent. The measure will automatically expire in 10 years and reports will be produced each year to inform resident how the funds were spent.