PREPARED BY: Wendy Wood
Tow Clerk
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 05/21/2024
ITEM NO: 12
DESK ITEM
DATE: May 21, 2024
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Review Polling Results, Authorize the Town Manager to Execute an Amendment to the NBS Agreement to Include Phase 2 in the Scope of Services to Prepare a 1/8th Cent Sales Tax Measure for the November 2024 Ballot and Increase the Not to Exceed Amount to $105,000, and Authorize an Expenditure Budget Adjustment in an Amount of $60,400 from the Available General Fund Capital/Special Projects Reserve
REMARKS:
Attachment 5 contains public comments received between 11:01 a.m. on May 20, 2024, and 11:00 a.m. May 21, 2024.
Attachments Previously Provided with the Staff Report:
1. Draft Amendment to NBS Agreement
2. May 7, 2024 Council Meeting Staff Report on Polling Results
3. Polling Results Summary
4. Polling Topline Report
Attachment Received with this Desk Item:
5. Public Comment Received Between 11:01 a.m. on May 20, 2024, and 11:00 a.m. May 21, 2024
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
From: Phil Koen
To: Mary Badame; Matthew Hudes; Rob Rennie; Maria Ristow; Rob Moore Cc: Laurel Prevetti; Gabrielle Whelan; ; Joseph Rodgers; Andrew Howard; Ashby Monk; Wendy Wood
Subject: Agenda item #12 - Review of Polling Results
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024 12:03:32 PM
[EXTERNAL SENDER]
Dear Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
At the May 13, 2024 Finance Commission meeting, the
Commission discussed as requested by the Town Council
the polling results conducted by Gene Bregman and
Associates and provided a recommendation regarding the
1/8 cent sales tax increase to the Town Council.
The Staff report for agenda item #12 contains the
recommendation that was unanimously approved by the
Finance Commission. Unfortunately, the Staff report does not capture any of the discussion points the Commission addressed regarding the polling results.
A concern of the Commission was the lack of transparency regarding the use of the sales tax proceeds. The poll asked several questions (refer to question #6) regarding “issues or problems facing the Town of Los Gatos” and asked
respondents to rate the degree of “seriousness” of each.
The problems cited among others were the obvious ones
such as traffic congestion, need for more affordable
housing, programs to protect against wildfire, need to
ATTACHMENT 5
maintain police and emergency services and high cost of living. These issues are well known to everyone, with most respondents ranking them as very serious or serious. A poll wasn’t required to inform the Town Council of these issues or their severity.
The next question, which was a reprint of the exact ballot box question used for the 2018 sale tax measure, listed funding “problems” that ranked high in severity with
funding “other general revenue purposes” and asked
respondents to declare whether they would vote “yes” or “no” on the ballot question taken as a whole. Clearly
funding “other general revenue purposes” is extremely
different from funding “highly severe problems” and yet there was no way for a respondent to separate the different funding options.
The question suggests the use of proceeds would
specifically fund “severe problems” but really allows the Town to use the proceeds to fund any “other general
revenue purposes” including routine expenditures such as attending conventions. To be clear, the ballot question does not promise to fund any specific needs let alone the “severe problems” identified in the poll.
When the polling firm was asked what the response would have been if a separate question was asked about the
sales tax proceeds funding only “other general revenue
purposes”, the consultant admitted it would not have done very well and probably would not pass. This goes to the heart of the issue, namely the ballot question was
intentionally written to enable a general sales tax measure while giving the false appearance of a specific sales tax measure.
Because of this lack of transparency, the Finance
Commission recommended if the Town Council wished to
proceed with a 1/8 sales tax increase, the use of proceeds should be tied to specific needs so voters clearly
understood how the proceeds would be spent. By doing
this, however, the sales tax measure would have to be a specific sales tax requiring two-thirds vote to pass as opposed to a general sales tax.
In addition, the Finance Commission discussed a recent
ballot measure passed by the City of Merced this past
March which renewed an existing .5% sales tax using 95% of the revenue for police and fire protection and 5% to be used for road and street maintenance. This “specific tax measure” passed with 68.5% support. Attached is the
Impartial Analysis that was prepared by the City Attorney.
The Town Council might find the City of Merced’s approach to be instructive and should take this under consideration.
In closing, the voters of Los Gatos deserve clarity as to how any new sales tax proceeds will be spent. The use of
proceeds should be clearly articulated in the ballot
question so voters can directly decide and not adopted by a resolution of the Town Council. If the voters agree to a sales tax increase, they should have sole authority over the use of the tax proceeds.
Thank you,
Phil Koen
Chair of the Finance Commission