Half-Cent General Purpose Sales Tax

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.

What: a proposed citywide half-cent general-purpose sales tax (about $20 million a year) to close projected general fund deficits and cash-fund at least three fire stations; a renewal of the half-cent infrastructure sales tax was previewed alongside it.
Where it stands: discussed on 2026-10-13 with no vote. A majority of speakers favored August 2027 over March 2, 2027, and several wanted the ballot language tightened. The 0.1% housing and homeless tax and the auditor question were treated separately and went to the March ballot a week later.
Next: any version would need ballot language, a call for election and, for August, a citizen sales tax committee.

Forecast deficits of $13.3 million in 2028 and $17.4 million in 2029. The current rate is 9.35%; adding the half-cent and 0.1% would make it 9.95%.
A property tax alternative of about 8.35 mills in 2028 (about $96 a year on a $100,000 home) and a further 2.567 mills in 2029 was compared.
August 2027 model: first collections January 1, 2028, reserves above 20% through 2031 with $2 million a year of budget reductions or adjustments, and $30 million for three fire stations between 2029 and 2031. A 0.4 cent version would raise about $16 million a year and not fund fire stations.
Draft ballot language: up to $30 million for at least three fire stations, up to $15 million a year for public safety and up to $5 million a year for public works and infrastructure.
The current infrastructure half-cent tax expires October 1, 2029; renewal language was also shown.

Options laid out by Mayor Duncan: everything in March, everything in August, or the auditor and housing questions in March with the rest in August.
Kell and Ortiz would support only an August election; Kell also asked for a food-versus-general spending breakdown and a chart of past cuts, and Ortiz objected to vague wording on vehicles and equipment.
Hiller called the draft a possible "slush fund" and proposed a 0.4 cent operating-only version without fire stations; McGee and Miller said the language was not specific enough and McGee wanted community input; Miller supported renewing the infrastructure tax.
Valdivia-Alcala wanted a bar on using the money for pay raises.
Public: Joseph Ledbetter disputed the projections and the size of reserves; Danielle Twemlow raised stacked community improvement district rates and unclear use of the two infrastructure taxes.
City Manager Perez said the existing sales tax is not allocated by department and that reports would show how it is spent. Staff: Dalton Bittel.
Related: 0.1% sales tax for affordable housing trust fund and homeless initiatives, City Auditor charter ordinance amendment.

About 41 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-13 - City Council	41

2026-10-13 - City Council - non-action discussion of the half-cent tax, August versus March timing and ballot language; most councilmembers leaned to August; no vote.
2026-10-06 - 2026-10-06 - City Council: non-action discussion of a half-cent general sales tax (about $20 million a year); consensus favored slowing the timeline for community input.