In the last six months, several concerned citizens and community leaders have joined to form a group named Napa Citizens for Responsible Spending. We have specifically joined together to oppose the city of Napa's tax measure on the ballot -- Measure G.
We believe this measure is too large; this unprecedented sales tax hike would be the largest ever in the city or county of Napa.
The city's reasoning that 1% sales tax hike is appropriate because we currently have one of the lowest sales taxes in the Bay Area is a poor determiner.
We believe this measure should have had specific funding rather than going into the general fund. This is a general tax requiring only 50% plus one for approval versus a specific tax requiring a 2/3 majority. Without this higher threshold for approval, no guarantees or promises can be made that the funds will be directed consistently to priorities and essential services such as streets and roads.
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We believe this measure should have an end date. This proposed sales tax is open ended as opposed to having a sunset, or expiration date, which could have enabled voters the choice to extend or renew it at a certain time in the future rather than run an expensive campaign to end it.
We believe any tax increase of this magnitude requires truly independent oversight. The proponents of Measure G state it will have independent oversight, but the City Council will choose budget amount and items to be considered by the oversight board each year -- hardly independent.
The city claims that they face uncertain times in terms of balancing their budget, yet property taxes continue to rise, TOT taxes continue to rise, and with the opening of Costco, sales taxes will rise considerably.
The city currently has a balanced budget with fully-funded reserves. If the city budget were to trend to the negative then both revenues and expenses need to be addressed, yet the current staffing plan calls for four additional hires in 2024/2025 for a total of 519 positions, a record number for a community that has stagnant population growth. This sales tax hike is simply unwarranted and misguided and should not be supported.
Pete Mott, Chair Napa Citizens for Responsible Spending
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