Four years ago, Cotati was at a crossroads. Sales tax revenue, most of it from Lowe's, had dipped 40 percent since the start of the recession, and overall general fund revenue was down more than 27 percent.
The city responded by tightening its belt to uncomfortable extremes. Services were cut. City Hall hours were reduced, and the size of the city staff was cut by nearly a third. Cotati officials also confronted the city's long-term pension issues by creating a second-tier system. In addition, city employees did something unprecedented in Sonoma County. They took pay cuts of up to 15 percent.
Nevertheless, Cotati still faced a large deficit that left the community having to decide whether it wanted to move ahead as a full-service incorporated city or continue scaling back and looking at contracting out such basic services as public safety.
The public responded with a resounding vote in favor of keeping the city intact as much as possible. Residents voted to approve Measure A, a half-cent sales tax that has brought in roughly $850,000 a year to help maintain the city's police department and emergency dispatch system as well as fix potholes and maintain parks.
But that tax is about to expire. In addition, with the governor's elimination of redevelopment agencies, the situation has gotten worse for cities. Between the loss of Measure A funds and the loss of redevelopment funds, Cotati is looking at a $1.5 million budget shortfall.
Given that the city's overall budget is $5 million, it's a dismal picture.
As a result, city officials have put before voters Measure G, which would renew the previous sales tax — this time for nine years — and increase it to a full cent. The combination, according to city officials, would allow Cotati to continue operating much as it has.
Without Measure G, the city would have to look at a number of dire measures including:
; Possible elimination of the Police Department and dispatch service.
; A reduction of City Hall days of operation to just one day a week.
; The possible sale of some city buildings.
; Elimination of the Planning Commission and Design Review Board.
"What you would have is a general unraveling of the city," said City Councilman Marc Landman.
All of the steps listed above are doable. But we doubt that Cotati residents, given their past support of their community, see them as desirable.
As we've noted before, Cotati was one of the first communities to recognize and confront its financial challenges, particularly in relation to soaring retirement costs. In many ways, the community served as both a harbinger of what was ahead for the larger cities in Sonoma County and as a leader in addressing fiscal challenges.
Cotati, including its city employees, made the hard choices, in scaling back benefits and reducing pay. Now the city is looking to residents, once again, to help the community stay in business. They should.
The Press Democrat recommends a yes vote on Measure G.
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