Visalia, California, Sales Tax, Measure N (November 2016)
| Measure N: Visalia Sales Tax |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
| Topic: |
| Local sales tax Expires in: Never |
| Related articles |
| Local sales tax on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Tulare County, California ballot measures |
| See also |
| Visalia, California |
A sales tax measure was on the ballot for Visalia voters in Tulare County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of enacting an additional sales tax of 0.5 percent to fund general city services. |
| A no vote was a vote against enacting an additional sales tax of 0.5 percent to fund general city services. |
Election results
| Measure N | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| 25,920 | 65.26% | |||
| No | 13,800 | 34.74% | ||
- Election results from Tulare County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ | To provide funding protected from Sacramento; maintain/improve essential city services including police, fire/9-1-1 emergency/ medical aide response, gang prevention programs/ neighborhood police patrols; maintain streets; reduce criminal street activity; attract/retain businesses/jobs; address homelessness; maintain youth/senior programs, and other services, shall the City of Visalia increase the sales tax by ½- ¢, providing approximately $10,800,000 annually, until ended by voters; requiring audits, citizen’s oversight and all funds used locally?[2] | ” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Visalia City Attorney:
| “ |
Measure N would institute a .5% (half cent) increase to the Transactions and Use Tax (commonly known as sales tax) levied on transactions within the City of Visalia. The proceeds of this tax would be controlled directly by the City of Visalia and not subject to control by the State of California. The uses of the funds generated by the Measure are not specified, and it is therefore a general tax, subject to approval by a simple majority of the voters, with the proceeds available to pay for general city services such as police, fire protection, street maintenance, and others. However, this Measure would make the expenditures of funds generated by it subject to the provisions of the Sales Tax Accountability Ordinance, a chapter of the Visalia Municipal Code which, among other things: • Requires that an initial plan for expenditures of the proceeds of the Measure must be approved by the City Council. • Requires that an update to the initial plan must be considered and adopted after the first year and annually thereafter by the City Council. • Requires the City Council to hold two hearings on the initial and annual plans prior to adoption. • Requires that the plans provide for the maintenance of a 10% economic uncertainty reserve, and dedicate 10% of plan expenditures to emerging community needs, as identified by the City Council and constituents. • Provides for a Sales Tax Oversight Board to review the collection and expenditure of tax funds collected under the Measure, to be made up of City Council appointees, representatives from the existing Citizens Advisory Committee, and representatives of identified community organizations. • Requires annual audits of the collection and expenditure of funds by an independent auditor. • Specifies that none of the funds generated by the Measure may be used to pay for debt service costs. The above accountability measures, and the expenditure plans that are required to be adopted, may be changed by a vote of the City Council, following publicly noticed hearings, without requiring reapproval of the tax imposed by this Measure by the voters. The Measure does not have a termination date, and there is no “sunset” clause. However, the Measure provides that the tax shall be reviewed every eight years, at which time the Council may suspend it upon a 4/5 vote and thereafter reinstate it, also on a 4/5 vote, without a vote of the electorate. If no action is taken at the eight-year review, the tax will continue to be implemented unless specifically ended by the electorate through the voter initiative process. The half percentage sales tax implemented by this measure is additive to any other sales tax previously duly adopted by the City of Visalia.[2] |
” |
| —Visalia City Attorney[3] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Visalia, California.
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Tulare County Registrar of Voters, "Local Ballot Measure Text," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Tulare County, "Sample ballot," accessed November 2, 2016
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