Yuba City council endorses Measure D; cell tower easements, traffic grant, facility rezone approved

The Yuba City City Council gave its official endorsement of Measure D on Tuesday, a 1% general sales tax measure that will fund crucial public safety and infrastructure initiatives in Yuba City if approved by voters in November.

Over the last several months, city leaders have been adamant that a revenue measure is necessary to meet the needs of a growing population, with road repair and public safety being top priorities. The City Council has evaluated the need for additional revenue based on long-term financial forecasts regarding road maintenance and operational challenges for city fire and police departments.

If approved, Measure D will generate around $17.5 million per year. On Sept. 4, the City Council approved a revenue share agreement that will share a portion of Yuba City's Bradley-Burns sales tax equivalent to a 33% share of Measure D revenue. The Sutter County Board of Supervisors will consider this revenue share at a later date.

Yuba City's exploration of a tax measure came shortly after voters denied Sutter County's Measure A in 2022, a 1% general sales tax measure that would have helped fund public services provided by the county. In the years following, Sutter County has made significant cuts to its services to accommodate a compounding budget deficit and unavailing attempts to generate revenue. This has led to a hiring freeze on all county positions outside of public safety and a reduction in hours to county-led programs like the Sutter County Museum.

City and county leaders previously spoke on the likelihood of entering into a revenue share agreement in early discussions of a general tax measure. Sutter County officials have also highlighted Measure D as a possible revenue opportunity that could help bridge its deficit in the long run.

Should voters approve Measure D in November, Sutter County will receive Bradley-Burns revenue on a 67% and 33% split, with Yuba City getting the majority. In the event of a revenue overage, surplus funds would be split 50-50 between the city and a joint projects fund, which would be dedicated for mutually agreed upon projects benefiting both the city and county.

Using Yuba City's first year projections of $17.5 million as a base, Sutter County would receive $5.775 million while the city would receive $11.725 million.

City officials have stated that Measure D will ultimately benefit Yuba City and Sutter County through road maintenance and public safety initiatives. But outspoken critics of local sales tax measures claim that jurisdictions such as Yuba City should be doing a better job managing their finances and that cuts in personnel or other areas could make up for financial shortfalls.

In their current state, Yuba City roads need approximately $150 million in deferred maintenance. Meanwhile, the city's annual road repair budget sits at $1.5 million. In order to keep roads in their current condition, Yuba City would need $11.5 million per year to address maintenance needs. To improve them, the city needs $18.5 million per year, Public Works Director Ben Moody previously said.

Police and fire departments also have unique staffing and equipment needs to maintain high service demands and response times. As part of the $52.5 million General Fund budget, the police department makes up $20 million of the budget and the city's fire department makes up $13 million.

The Yuba City Fire Department has been able to address some of its personnel and equipment needs through a Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, which is slated to end during the 2024/25 fiscal year. Additional personnel have been hired for permanent positions, but the city will need approximately $538,000 to continue funding for these hires, the Appeal previously reported.

Yuba City Councilmember Marc Boomgaarden expressed his support for Measure D, emphasizing its necessity for providing residents with essential city services and the fact that the City Council did not propose a tax increase during the COVID-19 pandemic when inflation was especially high.

"We owe it to the citizens to ask them and make the case that it is necessary for us. ... We will continue to be fiscally prudent as we have been for the past five years," he said. "Cities in California are under the gun with rising prices. You're asking us to manage your and my and our money with a 23% inflation rate since 2019, and we're asking for 1%."

According to the Financial Times, the inflation rate in the U.S. reached a high of just above 8% in 2022. At the start of 2020, it hovered just above 2% and currently sits at around 2.5%. In California, prices have grown about 20% overall since 2020, according to the California Legislative Analyst's Office. Between 2019 and 2023, the average annual wage in the state jumped by 23% for 18 million workers statewide, The Orange County Register reported.

Yuba City Mayor Shon Harris reiterated the City Council's goal of maintaining fiscal responsibility and highlighted Measure D as a critical move to maintain quality infrastructure and city services.

"We are now at the point where revenues are not keeping up with expenses because of the aforementioned problems with inflation. Municipalities are not immune from all the rising costs. Everybody is experiencing it. In order to keep up services and enhance services and continue to improve the quality of life in Yuba City, it's going to take money. That's the bottom line. In a way, to the point where a vote against this measure – in my opinion – is a vote in favor of decreased services and things we're not going to want to do: bad roads and everything else that comes down the line when you do not have the money to keep up with the requirements to maintain the quality of services that we are used to providing," Harris said.

Cell tower easements

Also on Tuesday, the City Council unanimously approved the conversion of two city-owned cell tower leases into 50-year easements to a third party firm, resulting in a one-time payment of over $1 million to the city, officials said.

Yuba City has three cell tower antenna sites located on Gray Avenue, Clark Avenue and Poole Boulevard. It receives just over $5,800 per month for carriers to keep and use their transmission equipment on these towers.

Yuba City Finance Director Spencer Morrison said that all three tower lease agreements are up for renewal, but the city lacks expertise in managing these sites. Annual cash flow from these sites is "insignificant" and site management frequently falls on Yuba City information technology staff, he said. The future of cell tower operations is also uncertain, and the city seeks to transfer the responsibility of these towers to the wireless real estate firm TowerPoint.

According to Morrison, TowerPoint will pay its 50-year lease in advance plus 50% of any additional revenue generated under the easements for the Gray Avenue and Poole Boulevard towers. Yuba City anticipates a one time payment of $1.085 million.

"Yuba City is additionally still the landlord and the agency that would still approve or deny permits for plans that do not support the city's mission. We still have a great deal of control over what goes on with these towers," Morrison said.

Traffic enforcement grant

The Yuba City City Council authorized the Yuba City Police Department to accept a $115,000 grant from the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) in order to monitor traffic safety and DUIs in the area.

Yuba City Police applied for STEP funding in January and received an award notification in August. According to city officials, the department was selected for funding in order to maintain an "aggressive stance" on individuals who drive under the influence of alcohol or other impairing substances.

DUI checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, general traffic enforcement, bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement, distracted driver enforcement, and street racing/sideshow operations are covered under the STEP grant.

While having an impaired driving component, the STEP grant also allows for other traffic enforcement operations like speeding and red-light checks in areas with a high frequency of collisions. Ultimately, STEP's goal is to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions, the city said.

The grant will also fund the purchase of two new radar units to detect speeding, five preliminary alcohol screening devices, and DUI checkpoint supplies.

School facility rezoning

The City Council unanimously approved rezoning the southeast corner of Harter Parkway to construct a new office building and educational facility for the Sutter County Superintendent of Schools.

The proposed Sutter County Schools Career Training and Conference Center will accommodate 21 classrooms, conference rooms and office spaces, the city said. Officials anticipate approximately 305 students plus 60 staff members at the facility.

Deputy Director Development Services Doug Libby said that the proposed 38,000-square-foot building is permitted in the Commercial Office District but was considered by the Planning Commission due to its size.

According to city staff, the X19 Combining Zone District was originally applied to the project site to ensure that needed street intersection signalization would occur as the area is developed. X19 effectively requires developers to pay for improvements to surrounding intersections and dedication of the appropriate right-of-way. However, the district has since been deemed unnecessary with the emergence of other infrastructure programs over the years, the city said.

Libby said that the Sutter County Schools facility will maintain its Commercial Office zoning, but the X19 overlay requirements will be lifted from the site.