DATE: June 5, 2018
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT
Title
Discussion of Potential November 2018 Ballot Measures
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the City Council provides feedback and direction on the public engagement and next steps related to two potential November 2018 ballot measures.
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SUMMARY
Over this past year, the City Council has discussed several strategies to close the City’s General Fund structural budget deficit. These strategies include revenue generating and expenditure reduction strategies, alternative service delivery model options, and cost shifting opportunities. This staff report focuses on two revenue generating strategies: the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), also known as the Hotel Tax, and the Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT), which is a transaction tax collected upon the purchase of real estate when ownership transfers from one party to another.
Increasing the TOT and RPTT tax rates would require voter approval. Over the last several months, City staff have been undertaking a program of community engagement as well as discussing and gathering input on the City’s fiscal position and potential deficit-closing strategies, including increasing the TOT and RPTT. The next step in this process is to conduct an opinion survey of registered voters to measure support for the two proposals currently under consideration. Depending on results of the survey, staff would return to the Council with a recommendation about whether to place a TOT and/or RPTT increase on the November 6, 2018 ballot.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment I Staff Report
Attachment II Mailer Survey Responses
Attachment III Tax Rate Comparison