Temporary tax? Surely you jest.
Via Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento is relying on its expiring sales tax to fund nearly 20 percent of police employees in its latest budget plan, and city leaders said those jobs could be lost in future years if voters don’t extend the tax in November.
Measure U — approved overwhelmingly by the voters in 2012 — will pay for 195 positions in the police department, 90 in the fire department and many more jobs at community centers, parks and swimming pools in the fiscal year starting July 1, according to the city’s proposed 2018-19 budget released Monday. Overall, the city is projecting using $47.3 million in Measure U funding in the upcoming budget year.
The one-half percentage point sales tax is scheduled to expire at the end of March 2019. Renewing it is expected to be the political focus of the year at City Hall.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg and members of the City Council have expressed support for extending the sales tax through a ballot measure. There is also talk of increasing the tax — perhaps to one cent on the dollar — and making it permanent. City leaders are expected to announce their plans for the tax in early May.