Hundreds Gather to Speak Up About Proposed Taxes, Cuts

Hundreds of residents filed in and out of the auditorium during an open house Wednesday night, all with the same task before them: help the city climb out of a budget hole.

Attendees of the open house, called “Budget Cuts are Imminent & City Services will Change” by city staff, were given surveys testing their opinions on possible service cuts and revenue measures the Financing City Services Task Force, which helps the city council make a budget each year, has identified as ways to end a $700,000 annual deficit.

Staff estimated that more than 200 surveys were collected Wednesday night, but that more than 600 had been turned in prior to the open house.

“I am so thrilled, thrilled beyond belief, that the community turned out and are getting involved,” said City Councilwoman Mary Ann Nihart. “This is about education, no choices have been made, and it’s about the community getting what it wants.”

How do you feel about closing the and bringing in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office for Pacifica’s law enforcement needs to save the city an estimated $1.7 million each year?

Would you be willing to support a one-cent increase in local sales tax to raise an estimated $1.7 million annually for city expenditures?

What about a flat-rate parcel tax of $118 that would raise $1.2 million annually, much like the recently by the ?

The list of possibilities goes on in the survey, and residents indicated on a five-point scale their support, or lack thereof, for the ideas. Surveys can still be turned in until Jan. 20, either electronically or as hardcopy. Get your survey here.

Steve Patton, a Pacifica resident, believes there are ways around outsourcing law enforcement services.

“I think we can bypass it and won’t have to do it if we raise taxes in other areas that can broaden the tax base,” he said.

Patton said he worries that a shift to the sheriff’s office would hurt law enforcement response time in Pacifica.

“We have a great police department and mostly people like them,” he said. “I think they do a very good job and it would be a shame to lose that response time and help. I don’t think we can rely on the sheriff’s department to do the same.” 

Many city employees were on hand to answer residents’ questions and provide information about the various proposals, including Pacifica Police Chief Jim Tasa.

Chief Tasa said he would not share his thoughts or opinion about outsourcing law enforcement with the sheriff’s office Wednesday night.

“Tonight my role isn’t to share my opinion,” he said. “It’s to provide unbiased information. I want to honor that.”

He said that, in the end, Pacificans will decide for themselves what kind of government is acceptable.

“People will look at (these options) and as a community say what level of service they are willing to accept," he said. "It’s for them to answer, I think, not for me to answer for them.”

John Schultz, a 40-year resident of Pacifica, was also against outsourcing law enforcement services to the sheriff’s office.

“It scares the hell out of me,” he said.

Schultz said he fears sheriff deputies will lack local knowledge and involvement. 

“I’ve raised two kids here, my wife’s lived here since before Pacifica was Pacifica, and we can rely on them (the police),” he said. “It scares me that people might come in from outside as law enforcement. They don’t know us, don’t know our streets. Pacifica Police also support high schools and middle schools. Will they (the sheriff’s office) do that?”

Schultz said he would support a parcel tax to get the city in the black until the economy turns around.

“But how far can you tax the homeowners?” he asked. “We need to get more taxpaying industry in the city.”

Pacifica resident Margaret Brett-Kearns said she would support the $118 parcel tax proposal to preserve her property's value.

“I’ll pay $118 a year and maintain the value of my home,” she said. “Otherwise, you lose 20 to 30 percent value because we won’t have essential services in town, if we don’t have fire, police, library hours. What kind of town are we moving to if you can’t count on the basics?”

With regard to the one-cent increase in local sales tax, Brett-Kearns said she hadn’t thought about the proposal much but thought it would put residents with lower income at a disadvantage.

Pacifica Mayor and City Councilman Pete DeJarnatt also weighed in about the possibility of a new or increased tax in Pacifica. 

“I’ll make a decision about what I want to do once I see what the questionnaires suggest, but I’d rather not go to another tax. I really would not.” 

For more information about the various cuts and revenue measures on the table, take a look at Pacifica Patch’s of the issue.

City staff said a final report on survey results will be ready in late February and using the community’s input, the Financing City Services Task Force and City Council will begin crafting a budget. 

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