Cloverdale poll: No tax increases

<p>Cloverdale residents aren't about to tax themselves to help bail out their city government.</p><p>A survey of sample voters showed a majority are against a parcel tax or a utility tax to help bolster the city's general fund.</p><p>Mayor Joe Palla said there doesn't appear to be any urgency among voters to pass a special tax to ensure city services remain intact.</p><p>“They're aware of the financial situation the city is in — the challenging time to balance everything and provide essential services. However the majority did not support a tax,” Palla said.</p><p>The survey asked 300 randomly selected voters whether they would approve a parcel tax ranging from $200 to $300 per year. Opposition ran 59 percent against the highest parcel tax, and softened only slightly, to 55 percent, for a lower parcel tax.</p><p>Some voters were undecided, but no more than 39 percent said they would support a parcel tax.</p><p>There was a little more support — but not a majority in favor — for a 4 percent utility tax. Forty nine percent of the voters said they could support it.</p><p>The City Council commissioned the $21,000 poll, which was conducted in July by consultants Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates.</p><p>The City Council was informed of the results at its latest meeting. Rather than dropping the idea, council members said they want to hear from another firm that specializes in helping local governments convince voters of the need for special taxes.</p><p>The consultants, Lou Edwards Group, on Oct. 28 will give the City Council suggestions on how it might approach an initiative for a special tax, which could go before voters in June or November 2010.</p><p>City Manager Nina Regor said if awareness is raised in the community about the city's precarious finances, voters may decide to support a tax.</p><p>“We have a structural gap of several hundred thousand (dollars) per year because our revenues, or combination of revenues, are not as much as our combination of expenditures,” she said.</p><p>“People may change their mind if they understand the real financial dilemma the city is in,” the mayor said.</p><p>Cloverdale was able to balance its budget for the current fiscal year with the assumption that it will get a law enforcement grant from federal stimulus funds. But the money, about $500,000 over two years, has not yet been approved.</p><p>Palla said that in the past two to three years the city has had to “cut services considerably” and has reduced its workforce.</p><p>With property taxes and other revenues down and the likelihood that the economy won't improve soon, he said “the city needs to explore the feasibility of revenue generation to maintain critical safety services and community things like parks and recreation activities.”</p>