Numerous needs for Healdsburg's sales tax money

Healdsburg’s worn and cracked streets will continue to be the main beneficiaries of a voter-approved sales tax, but some residents have started saying that more of the money should go to affordable housing programs.

The half-cent sales tax approved in 2012 generates $2 million annually. The City Council has already decided that half the amount should go to street maintenance and repair, while 10 percent, or $200,000, is slated for affordable-housing efforts.

But when the council met last week to decide how to divvy up the next round of tax proceeds, some residents said more should go toward easing the area’s housing crunch.

“Listen to what people are asking for and split up the funding accordingly,” said resident Sheila Gallagher, who noted that a city survey of more than 1,100 residents found that affordable housing should be given 14 percent of tax dollars.

Rents have increased about 30 percent in Sonoma County over three years, and with home prices also rising, housing has become a chronic issue raised by a determined group of advocates at nearly every Healdsburg meeting. Council members often find themselves on the defensive.

“We’re doing better than other cities in Sonoma County when it comes to affordable housing,” Councilman Gary Plass said, while acknowledging “we can always do better.”

He noted that the city has already set aside $3.2 million for various affordable-housing programs.

But like other council members, he said officials have a duty to adhere to four priorities the council established in convincing voters to back the tax hike, known as Measure V, which ends in 2023.

Those priorities are street maintenance, police and fire services, economic development and repairing deferred maintenance in public buildings - although the council has the ability to spend the money as it wishes.

“We listed four categories, what voters said they were approving,” said Mayor Tom Chambers. “We have an obligation to citizens that we stick to what we said we were going to do.”

But he also said that creating more affordable housing could be considered an economic development priority, because it’s needed to attract new businesses whose employees should be able to live in town.

Constant criticism of the city for not doing enough to address housing has worn thin on Councilman Eric Ziedrich, who said there are no easy answers to the housing dilemma, and that solutions take time.

Measure V was pitched by city officials as a way to avoid deep cuts to core services during the stubborn recession and Ziedrich said that when it passed, “everybody had a smile on their face and a celebration that something new and unexpected had been accomplished.”

He described it as “frosting on the cake’” for the city’s general fund.

But now, “something dark and confrontational is happening to our town. There’s misinformation and suspicion and accusations. It shouldn’t have to be that way.”

Instead of housing advocates delivering their message in a positive and collaborative way, “it feels like a battlefront,” he said.

Ziedrich acknowledged that the accusations and combative tone he perceives could just be a reflection of the general state of politics in the country.

In the end, the council split the $200,000 housing portion into three specific uses.

Half of the $200,000 will go into a fund for developing affordable housing, and the rest for a rental housing rehabilitation program and to help low-income households pay water and sewer bills.

“As time goes on, other priorities come into account. Clearly, affordable housing is this time,” Chambers said.

The council also voted to spend $350,200 for ongoing funding from Measure V to pay for salaries of a police officer, dispatcher and firefighter, along with other public-safety costs.

An equal amount will go to pay for improvements to the police station, senior center and community center.

The council also allocated $100,000 to the Chamber of Commerce for a number of services, including attracting businesses, marketing and tourism efforts.

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to clarify that the money being spent on public safety workers is for current employees and not new hires.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas