A skeptic now backs Clovis sales-tax hike. Voters should approve $28 million investment | Opinion

There are several ways to look at the $28 million sales-tax hike sought by Clovis city leaders on the November ballot, the proposed Measure Y:

Should voters agree to pay a higher sales tax so Clovis can have millions more each year to spend on city services like road maintenance and the popular senior center?

Or, is the new revenue badly needed so the city can hire more police officers and firefighters, staffing which has not kept up with growth?

The answer is both.

Campaign signs link "The Clovis way of life" to successful passage of Measure Y, particularly in the hiring of the public safety personnel. The campaign's unspoken message is obvious: If voters don't approve Measure Y, Clovis will jeopardize its standing as one of the Valley's safest cities. It won't have enough officers and crime will ramp up, and firefighters emergency response will take even longer.

The bigger issue is that the city needs more money to provide its range of services, like trail and park upkeep and senior-center staffing. As much as I am not thrilled about a sales-tax hike, I will grudgingly vote for it. That's because Clovis — like most cities — has few other options.

The city projects a $14.4 million general fund deficit by 2028 without the increase. To learn why the city is in this quandary, Bee Opinion Editor Juan Esparza Loera and I met virtually with Mayor Lynne Ashbeck, City Councilmember Matt Basgall and Andy Haussler, assistant city manager, to discuss the measure.

Measure Y details

Here are the basics on Measure Y:

It would hike the sales tax from 7.975% to 8.975%. That would add $1 to every purchase of $100. The increase would not apply to property (there is a separate tax for that), rent, groceries or prescription medications.

There would be no end date for the increase; it would remain indefinitely until repealed by voters.

It is a general tax increase, meaning the revenue can be used as city officials think best. As outlined by the Clovis city attorney in the impartial analysis , the new revenue could be used "for any city purpose, including but not limited to funding police, fire, and 9-1-1 emergency services, maintaining and improving parks, streets and other city facilities and programs, and paying for other city services and obligations."

Measure Y needs 50% plus one to be approved. If that occurs, it would take effect next April 1.

Growth and services

Basgall, who was Clovis' police chief from 2014 until he retired in 2019, said that while Measure Y is a general tax hike, the council will likely follow current spending, which means 87% of the budget, or about $74 million this year, will go to police and fire.

Maintaining public safety is the top concern of residents, as gleaned from two surveys, six presentations, 400 comments in response to mailers and three budget hearings.

Ashbeck said supporting the new senior center — which has experienced explosive use over the older, smaller center — as well as maintaining roads, parks and trails are also top desires of residents.

I brought skepticism to our meeting because Clovis has steadily expanded its residential development. Yet neighborhoods of new homes does not pay the full costs of service to those tracts. Property taxes fall short, as much as homeowners dislike paying them.

There are new housing developments along Shepherd Avenue. One impact of such growth: It takes firefighters nearly twice as long to respond to calls along the northern end of the city than closer to Old Town.

Why approve housing when there may not be enough money to pay for police and fire? Like most cities in California, Clovis is under state orders to develop more housing. The new development also meets the city's criteria for growth as outlined in its General Plan.

'One-shot deal'

I asked whether the city had done enough to attract new business. A major employer, such as a manufacturing plant, would provide good-paying jobs plus healthy property taxes.

Haussler said 10,000 new jobs were added to Clovis in the last decade from a mix of public and private employers. One major business that opened a new manufacturing facility is Cabinet Connection on Herndon Avenue.

He also noted the Shaw Avenue corridor remains vibrant with businesses, even though Shaw has been a commercial thoroughfare since the 1960s.

The 2008 Great Recession hammered municipalities throughout California, and Clovis was no exception. The number of police and firefighters today is the same as 2009, but Clovis has grown 40% in population since then.

The argument for opposing the tax, as outlined on the county elections website, is that Clovis residents should voluntarily donate to the city to meet its needs. While a nice-sounding idea, in practice no city can budget on the whims of donors.

Basgall said the 1% hike was set precisely because it would give the city enough money to use well into the future.

"We don't want to come back and ask people 10 years from now, 'Hey, we did not ask for enough,' he said. "My personal opinion is this is a one-shot deal. This is it. We could never go back and ask our citizens for another tax after this."

Here is hoping he is true to his word.