New Fountain Valley sales tax brought in $2.5 million to start, auditor says

The city of Fountain Valley collected $2.5 million in revenue from its new Measure HH sales tax during the first three months it was in effect last year, according to the city’s auditor, and officials spent about $780,000 on the public safety, senior citizen and youth programming they said the tax would support.

The remaining $1.7 million went into reserves, according to the auditor, Irvine-based White Nelson Diehl Evans.

Fountain Valley voters passed the measure, which increased the local sales tax by 1 percentage point, in November 2016 to help shore up the cash-strapped city. The tax became effective in April last year, and the initial revenue figures are for April through June.

The city expects the tax to generate about $11 million per year.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, July through September, revenue totaled about $3 million, said city Finance Director Jason Al-Imam.

Over the past several months, the Fountain Valley City Council has applied Measure HH funds toward pay raises for police officers and firefighters. The Police Department also has requested funds for a new 911 dispatcher, saying the dispatch center has been understaffed for years.

The council will consider the new dispatcher, along with other hires funded primarily by the general fund, this spring.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD