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Published September 25th, 2024
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Sales tax measure on Lafayette's November ballot
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| By Elaine Borden Chandler |
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The City of Lafayette has recently been grappling with the projection that starting in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, it will be running on an annual $2 million deficit. In an attempt to avoid this without cutting services, there will be a measure for a half-cent increase to the Lafayette sales tax on the November ballot.
"We're not seeking to add new programs. Rather, the additional revenues that we receive through Measure H would keep our current level of services going," said City Manager Niroop Srivatsa.
In practical terms, a half cent tax (e.g. a half percent tax) would mean that for anything bought in Lafayette, half a cent would be added per dollar to the price in addition to the normal sales tax. For example, a $10 item would have 5 more cents added to the sales tax and a $50 restaurant bill would have an additional 25 cents.
Like all sales taxes, this tax would not apply to groceries, rent, mortgage payments, prescription medicine, or utilities. However, unlike Lafayette's current 8.75% sales tax, all of the revenue from this half cent tax would remain in Lafayette. At present, only 1% of Lafayette's 8.75% sales tax returns to the city, with the rest going to the State, the county, and certain agencies such as BART.
This revenue would go exclusively to Lafayette's General Fund. The Lafayette General Fund finances city services such as street and park maintenance, paying police officers, and wildfire preparedness, as well as programs such as the Traffic Calming Program and the Public Art Program.
According to the city, the current deficit comes from the increased costs for street repair, infrastructure maintenance, and insurance; general inflating costs that have not been matched by equally increased revenue; and unfunded mandates from the state, such as housing measures.
If this tax measure does not pass, Lafayette will need to make a 10% cut to expenses. What these cuts would be has not been decided yet, but one possibility has been 10% cuts to all departments and programs across Lafayette. However, if the council decided that to keep fully funding a particular program, the expenses in other departments and programs would require even deeper cuts than 10%.
If the measure does not pass, the General Fund Reserve - money kept for unexpected costs such as wildfires, earthquakes, or other disasters - will also shrink. It is maintained at 60% of the General Fund and will be proportionately reduced.
This measure includes a citizen’s oversight committee to let residents monitor how the revenue from the measure would be spent. Residents of Lafayette would apply and be chosen by the City Council to advise them on how to distribute the funds according to the desires and needs of Lafayette's citizens. The revenue distribution would also be part of the public annual budgeting process.
Those interested in more detail on the tax measure can visit the City of Lafayette's Sale Tax Measure page at
https://www.lovelafayette.org/city-hall/city-departments/administration/city-clerk/november-2024-general-election/measure-h-sales-tax. |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA