City Delays Vote on Tax for Police, Firefighters

Although dozens of Oxnard residents turned out Tuesday to voice support for a special utility tax that would fund more police officers and new anti-gang measures, the City Council decided to delay a vote on the proposed November ballot measure because Mayor Manuel Lopez was stuck at home with a bad cold.

City leaders postponed a vote on the citywide measure, which would add $5 to $10 a month to utility bills, until a special meeting June 27 at 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

A special committee made up of Oxnard residents and business leaders, called Safety 2000, has lobbied the City Council to put the tax on the ballot to raise up to $5.25 million annually to put more cops and firefighters on the streets.

Facing a $1.3-million shortfall on top of an already tight budget, city officials have included no increases for police and firefighters in the $60.7-million spending plan that the council was set to adopt late Tuesday.

Oxnard has logged 10 homicides--six gang related--this year, and police estimate the city has about 3,800 gang members, more than twice as many as three years ago.

“We are in an emergency situation,” Denise Paul, co-chairwoman of Safety 2000 and co-owner of an Oxnard real estate business, said before the meeting. “We need to be able to protect our youth, our neighbors, our families and provide a safe environment for our businesses. The city just does not have the funding to attack this emergency situation.”

The special tax measure would require support from two-thirds of city voters to make it onto the books. If the tax passes, large businesses would be asked to contribute no more than $4,000 annually. As proposed, the tax includes a sunset clause that would wipe out the levy in eight years unless residents vote in 2002 to extend it.

Police Chief Harold Hurtt said tax revenues would be used to hire six new officers to make the department’s anti-gang task force permanent, provide for five new officers to patrol junior high and high schools and cover other programs.

Under the tax proposal, nearly $1.3 million of the $5.25 million annually in additional revenues would be used to hire a dozen new firefighters and purchase new firefighting equipment, which officials say would lower response times and improve service.

If at least 66.7% of voters approve the tax Nov. 5, residents could start seeing an estimated 3.5% increase on their phone, water, electrical, gas and other utility bills as early as Dec. 1.

After talking about the measure, the City Council was expected to adopt a $60.7-million spending plan for 1996-97. Under the proposed budget, all departments except police and fire must face a cut of up to 3.1% in response to the $1.3-million budget shortfall.