City Council to Draft Public Safety Tax

A proposed citywide tax that would put more police on the streets and pay for other public safety programs appears headed for the November ballot.

The Oxnard City Council asked staff members Tuesday to begin preparing a draft of the special levy, which would require approval by two-thirds of the voters.

“I’m very much interested in seeing something brought forward,” said Councilman Dean Maulhardt.

But in order for the proposal to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot, the City Council must vote on the measure by July 9.

If approved by city voters, the special tax would add $5 to $10 to monthly utility bills, raising up to $5.25 million annually for police and fire. Safety 2000, the group of residents and business leaders that pitched the special tax proposal, estimates that large businesses would contribute no more than $9,000 annually.

As proposed, the special tax includes a sunset clause that would eliminate it in eight years unless residents voted to continue it. The taxes would be lower the final two years.

Safety 2000 told the City Council on Tuesday that the police and fire departments need the additional funds to combat juvenile crime and to reduce emergency response times.

“We’ve got to get the gang problem under control,” said Pat Simmons, co-chairwoman of Safety 2000 and an Oxnard resident, after her presentation. “We have to give our residents the safety they deserve.”

But some Oxnard residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting urged city leaders not to place the measure on the ballot.

“I think there should be some other means of providing the funds,” said 64-year-old Matthew Thomas.

Facing a $1.3-million shortfall, city officials initially did not include in their $60.5-million spending plan released May 22 any of the increases sought by the police and fire departments.

But in response to a recent spate of youth violence, the City Council last week told budget officials to find an extra $200,000 in the proposed budget to keep the police force’s anti-gang task force in operation through December.

Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt said the special tax would cover the $500,000 needed annually to hire six new officers and make the anti-gang task force permanent. The tax would also generate money to assign more officers to Oxnard’s junior high and high schools and to modernize the department’s aging computer system.

Although Hurtt said he realizes the 66.7% voter majority is difficult to achieve, he said he believes Oxnard residents will be willing to tax themselves in an effort to combat gangs and youth violence.

“I think that they realize that the resources of the city cannot meet those demands,” Hurtt said before the meeting.

Under the tax proposal, nearly $1.3 million of the additional revenues would be used to hire a dozen new firefighters and purchase new firefighting equipment, which tax supporters say would enable the Fire Department to reduce response times and improve service.

Ventura County taxpayer advocates have mixed feelings about the tax proposal.

Mike Saliba, president of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., said his group has not taken a stand on the special tax.

But Jere Robings, president of the Ventura County Alliance of Taxpayers, said he does not support the tax proposal.

“We just think enough is enough and people don’t need to be taxed anymore,” Robings said. “I am not sure that increasing the tax is going to decrease murders.”