City of Brawley

Measure J

City of Brawley 

FULL TEXT OF BALLOT MEASURE 

The full text of the ballot measure to be printed in the election material begins below the following line.  Letter designation of measure shall be assigned and input by County Registrar.

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TITLE OF MEASURE

            The City Council refers to the Measure as the Brawley Public Safety, Streets, Essential Services Measure.

SALES TAX INCREASE

            By approval of this measure by at least a simple majority (50 percent plus one) of the registered voters voting on the measure, the City will be authorized to adopt an ordinance that will increase the transactions and use general tax (“sales tax”) charged on certain non-exempt purchases made within the city limits of the City of Brawley.  The ordinance will increase the sales tax rate charged within the City of Brawley from its current rate of 7.75% to 8.75%. 

            Sales tax applies to certain purchases only.  For example, purchases made at restaurants, bars, gas stations, and retail stores.  Sales tax does not apply to many groceries, or the services of doctors, dentists and lawyers.  Nothing about the proposed increase shall change the type of purchases that sales tax will apply to.

            Currently, the City receives one percent (1%) of the sales tax charged on purchases subject to the sales tax.  If passed this measure will allow the City Council to increase the amount of sales tax that the City receives to two percent, (2%).

            The proposed increase is projected to generate an additional $3.8 million dollars a year in revenue for the City’s General Fund.

GENERAL TAX

            The sales tax increase that is proposed shall be a general tax.  Meaning that the funds raised by the tax will be added to the City’s General Fund as opposed to being earmarked for any special purpose or project.  The City’s general fund is the fund that pays for the majority of cost of police, fire, and parks and recreation facilities.  The General Fund is what supports the City’s 911 emergency response; fire protection; firefighter paramedics; neighborhood police patrols; gang/drug prevention; keeping parks/public areas safe/clean; addressing homelessness; repairing streets/roads, potholes; retaining/attracting local small businesses; upgrading local water infrastructure; investment in facilities and infrastructure; and other general government use.  Because the revenue generated by the proposed tax increase will not be earmarked for any particular project, future City Councils will have the flexibility to use the revenue to best meet the needs of the City and its residents.

REVENUE STAYS IN BRAWLEY

            The revenue generated by the proposed tax increase will stay in Brawley.  The revenue generated by the proposed tax increase is not subject to use by the County or State Agencies.

METHOD OF COLLECTION 

            The proposed tax shall be collected by retailers at the point of sale along with the currently existing sales tax.  It shall be distributed to the City in the same manner as the current sales tax revenue received by the City.

DURATION

            If approved by the voters the tax shall remain in place unless it is repealed by an ordinance of the City Council, or an initiative passed by the voters.

ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

            Like all of the City’s finances, every penny received and every penny spent from the proposed tax increase is subject to the requirement for an annual independent audit.  Further, each year the City engages in a transparent and public budgeting process wherein City Staff provides detailed reports to the City Council about all of the projected revenue for the coming year as well has all of the projected spending for the coming year.  All budget hearings are conducted during public meetings and those meetings are streamed live on the City’s Facebook page and the video is made available on the City’s website for viewing in the future.  All City financial records are available for public inspection.

INFORMATION ABOUT ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS INCLUDED IN BALLOT

            Voters are informed that any estimates or projections in the measure or ballot materials, including relating to estimated projected revenue provided is informational only. Such amounts are estimates.  Such estimates depend on numerous variables which are subject to variation and change over time. As such, while such estimates and approximations are provided based on information currently available to the City and its current expectations, such estimates and approximations are not limitations and are not binding upon the City. In addition, the abbreviated and condensed statement of the measure presented to voters which is subject to a word count limitation imposed by State law does not limit the scope and complete meaning of the measure provided in this Full Text of the Measure and related ballot materials.

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The Full Text of the Measure ends at the above line.

CITY ATTORNEY IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS

BRAWLEY PUBLIC SAFETY, STREETS,

ESSENTIAL SERVICES MEASURE

NOVEMBER, 2024 BALLOT

The City Council of the City of Brawley adopted a resolution for the purpose of putting the above-entitled measure on the November, 2024 ballot.  The question put to the voters is whether or not a proposed one percent (1%) increase of the transactions and use general tax (“sales tax”), should be approved.

Currently, the sales tax charged in on certain purchases in the City of Brawley is 7.75%.  The City of Brawley receives one percent (1%) of the revenue generated by that tax.  If the measure passes, the sales tax rate shall increase one percent (1%) to 8.75%. The City will receive all of the revenue generated by the proposed increase.  The City estimates that the proposed increase will generate approximately $3.8 million of additional revenue per year for the City’s general fund.

The sales tax increase that is proposed shall be a general tax.  Meaning that the funds raised by the tax will be added to the City’s General Fund as opposed to being earmarked for any special purpose or project.  The City’s general fund is the fund that pays for the majority of cost of police, fire, and parks and recreation facilities.  The General Fund is what supports the City’s 911 emergency response; fire protection; firefighter paramedics; neighborhood police patrols; gang/drug prevention; keeping parks/public areas safe/clean; addressing homelessness; repairing streets/roads, potholes; retaining/attracting local small businesses; upgrading local water infrastructure; investment in facilities and infrastructure; and other general government use.  Because the revenue generated by the proposed tax increase will not be earmarked for any particular project, future City Councils will have the flexibility to use the revenue to best meet the needs of the City and its residents.

All of the revenue generated by the proposed tax increase will be paid to the City of Brawley.  Meaning no other agency, such as the County or the State shall be entitled to share in the revenue that would be generated by the proposed tax increase.

The costs of doing business for the City has out paced the revenue that the City receives.  In order to avoid cutting services to the residents, the City has relied on existing general fund reserves to balance the its budgets for the last several years.  As a result, the City’s cash reserves have been reduced, while the costs of providing services have increased.  This trend cannot continue.  The City must either raise additional revenue, or begin to cut services provided to its residents.  The City Council is committed to providing the services that the residents expect, therefore this tax increase has been proposed in order to generate the revenue that will be needed to avoid cutting services.

If the measure passes by a simple majority, (fifty percent, plus one), the sales tax charged in certain purchases made in the City of Brawley will be increased by one percent (1%) to 8.75%.  If the measure does not pass, the sales tax rate shall remain at 7.75% and future City Councils will have to considering cutting services provided to the residents.

William S. Smerdon

City Attorney