1 DRAFT May 14, 2024
Item 6.2 - Potential Revenue Measure for 2024
Arn Andrews, Assistant City Manager
Kimberly Thomas, Deputy City Manager
Derek Rampone,Finance and Administrative Services Director Grace Zheng, Assistant Finance and Administrative Services Director Dawn Cameron, Acting Assistant City Manager/Community Development Director Attachment 3
2 Background and Context
Unmet
Capital Needs
Public Safety Building,
EOC, 9-1-1 Emergency
Dispatch
($200 million)
Climate Change
Mitigation
($50 million)
Affordable
Housing
($50 million plus)
Parks
($30 million)
Transportation
Projects
($45 million)
Fire Stations
($30 million)
3 Study Session
Council Direction at the September 12 meeting:
1. Continue to explore the feasibility of a 2024 revenue measure.
2. Create a 2 024 Revenue Ballot Measure Ad Hoc Committee consisting of Vice Mayor Matichak, Councilmember Ramirez, and Councilmember Ramos.
3. Focus on general t ax initiative (50+1) revenue types like Transient Occupancy Tax and Utility User Tax (by utility type).
4 Ad Hoc Sub-Committee
Convened initial meeting. December 6, 2023
Reviewed the types of potential revenue measures and recommended polling for a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Property Transfer Tax (PTT). January 17, 2024 Reviewed options and directed staff to develop a survey and ballot questions for both a potential TOT and PTT revenue measure.
January 30, 2024
Final review of ballot questions and recommended polling language in the survey instrument.March 6, 2024
Received polling results and recommended that Council proceed with a property transfer tax.
April 19, 2024
5 Polling Results by EMC Research Inc.
City of Mountain View
Poll Highlights
March 2024
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 6
Methodology
Please note that due to rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%. Multimodal live telephone, email- and text-to-web survey of likely November 2024 voters in the City of Mountain View, CA
Survey conducted March 14 – 27, 2024
Interviews were conducted by trained, professional interviewers; landlines and mobile phones included
• Survey was offered in English, Spanish, and Chinese
604 completed interviews; overall margin of error ±3.95 percentage points • A split sample methodology was used to randomize the order in which respondents sa
w the two measures; margin of error for each split is ±5.6 • Split A: Heard TOT first, PTT second
• Split B: Heard PTT first, TOT second
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 7
Right Direction/Wrong Track
Voters are optimistic about the direction of the City.
Right direction
72%
Wrong track
22%
(Don't know)
7%
Do you feel that things in Mountain View are generally going in the right direction or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 8
Satisfaction with City Services and Financial Management A majority are satisfied with the job the City is doing providing city services. Voters are satisfied with the city’s financial management, but intensity to this positive rating is low. *Results are from a 2012 survey by Godbe Research; telephone interviews; n=404; MoE= ±4.8% 27%
48%
16%
53%
41%
46%
4%
3%
17%
12%
5%
14%
5%
2%
7%
79%
89%
62%
17%
8%
21%
2024
2012
*
2024
Very
satisfied
Somewhat
satisfied
(Don't
know)
Somewhat
dissatisfied
Very
dissatisfied
Total
sat.
Total
dissat.
Generally speaking, are you
satisfied or dissatisfied with
the job the City of
Mountain View is doing to
provide city services?
Would you say you are
satisfied or dissatisfied with
the management of city
finances in the City of
Mountain View?
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 9
City Services Perceived Need for Funding
Voters are evenly split on whether the City has a need for additional funding.
Would you say that the City of Mountain View has a great need for more money, some need for more money, little need for more money, or no real need for more money for city services? Great need 9%
No real need
23%
Some need 36%
Little need 22%
Need
45%
No need
45%
(Don't know)
10%
Need No need (Don't know)
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 10
26%
21%
19%
41%
46%
24%
3%
4%
1%
20%
19%
31%
10%
11%
25%
67%
66%
43%
31%
30%
56%
It is crucial to have high-quality city
services, even if it means raising taxes
I trust the City of Mountain View to
properly manage the funds it collects
I generally oppose increases to taxes,
regardless of what they are used for
Strongly
agree
Somewhat
agree
(Don't
know)
Somewhat
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Willingness to Pay for Services
Please tell me whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements.
Strong majorities express willingness to see taxes raised to maintain high-quality services and trust in the City to appropriately manage funds. Tax aversion is a less prevalent sentiment among respondents.
Total
agree
Total
disagree
It is crucial to have high-quality city
services, even if it means raising taxes
I trust the City of Mountain View to
properly manage the funds it collects
I generally oppose increases to taxes,
regardless of what they are used for
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 11
Total Yes
53%
Total No
38%
(Und.)
8%
Total Yes
63%
Total No
30%
(Und.)
7%
0%
50%
100%
Initial Vote on Hypothetical Measures*
The property transfer tax receives notably more support in an initial, uninformed vote.
If the election were held today, would you vote yes to approve or no to reject this measure? *Ballot questions reviewed by the City Attorney.
Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Vote Property Transfer Tax (PTT) Vote 24-9130 City of Mountain View| 12
Measure Components
How would you rate how important that project is to you, with 1 being not at all important, and 7 being extremely important? 911 response and pothole repair rise to the top of the list of service priorities. 51%
46%
37%
45%
38%
31%
35%
43%
24%
22%
15%
19%
21%
24%
16%
17%
18%
17%
13%
17%
13%
8%
12%
15%
20%
18%
18%
21%
18%
13%
24%
16%
25%
82%
81%
81%
80%
73%
70%
69%
68%
65%
51%
47%
Maintaining 911 medical and disaster response
Fixing potholes
Repairing streets and sidewalks
Addressing homelessness
Improving public safety, emergency response and crime prevention Updating public safety facilities to provide prompt response in an emergency Improving pedestrian and bicycle safety
Increasing affordable housing support
Supporting local businesses
Increasing the safety of crossing Caltrain railroad tracks Adding local parks
7 - Extremely important 6 5 Total important
24-9130 City of Mountain View| 13
Impact of Information
Is that a very convincing, somewhat convincing, not too convincing or not at all convincing reason to vote for the measures? Respondents find statements about the benefits to be convincing as reasons to vote for the measures. 34%
32%
34%
34%
32%
21%
42%
43%
39%
38%
36%
41%
76%
75%
73%
72%
67%
63%
The city’s Emergency Operations Center is currently not safe to withstand an earthquake, putting the community at risk when disaster strikes. These measures will help to provide an up-to-… These measures will help improve cyclist and pedestrian safety, increase safety measures around railroad crossings, and provide Safe Routes to Schools programs to help protect… Mandatory financial audits and yearly reports will ensure that all funds from these measures are spent right here in the City of Mountain View only for voter-approved purposes.
These measures would create a guaranteed source of local funding that, by law, cannot be taken by Sacramento, for our vital city services, ensuring our tax dollars stay local for the… These tax measures help the City maintain critical services, but neither costs the average Mountain View resident anything.
Only those who book a hotel, motel or short-term rental in… 0 Very convincing Somewhat convincing
The city’s Emergency Operations Center is currently not safe to withstand an earthquake, putting the community at risk when disaster strikes. These measures will help to provide an up- to-date public safety center allowing emergency workers to provide rapid 911 response to the community during emergencies.
These measures will help improve cyclist and pedestrian safety, increase safety measures around railroad crossings, and provide Safe Routes to Schools programs to help protect every child in Mountain View from road hazards on their way to school.
Mandatory financial audits and yearly reports will ensure that all funds from these measures are spent right here in the City of Mountain View only for voter-approved purposes.
These measures would create a guaranteed source of local funding that, by law, cannot be taken by Sacramento, for our vital city services, ensuring our tax dollars stay local for the benefit of Mountain View residents.
These tax measures help the City maintain critical services, but neither costs the average Mountain View resident anything. Only those who book a hotel, motel, or short-term rental in Mountain View; or those buying or selling property valued over $5 million pay these taxes.
Our great neighborhood parks and public facilities are what makes Mountain View such an amazing place to live, but many of our parks are starting to show their age. These measures will allow the City to invest in upgrading our existing parks, as well as fund new parks. 14 Regional Tax Rates
County/Charter Cities Per $1,000
City Rate County Rate Per $1,000 Total
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Mountain View $3.30 $1.10 $4.40
Palo Alto $3.30 $1.10 $4.40
San Jose $2M - $3.30 $1.10 $4.40
$2M to $5M - $10.80 $1.10 $11.90
$5M to $10M - $13.30 $1.10 $14.40
Over $10M - $18.30 $1.10 $19.40
15 Property Transfer Tax
FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23
Actual ($3.30/$1,000 AV) $10,378M $6,539M $8,688M $10,245M $4,092M Property Transfers over
$5.0 million
Additional Tax at $15.0/$1,000 $22,225,745 $11,598,596 $11,378,660 $14,446,274 $1,554,053 $9.5M Annual Revenue
16 Sales Volumes Over $5 Million
For the 5-year period:
• The 8 residential transactions totaled $46,725,500
• The 75 commercial transactions totaled $3,297,606,044 • All transactions totaled $3,344,331,544
17 Revenue Measure Process
Date Action
May 14, 2024 Council approval of the revenue measure type to place on the ballot.
June 25, 2024 Council adoption of revenue measure, including ballot measure language and recommendation of funding priorities.
August 8, 2024 Submittal to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters (ROV) by the statutory August 8, 2024 deadline.
August 13, 2024 Arguments for/against the measure are due to the County ROV by 5:00 p.m.
August 14, 2024 Last date to withdraw a measure.
August 20, 2024 Rebuttals due to the County ROV by 5:00 p.m.
November 5, 2024 General Election November 5, 2024
18 Next Steps
• Robust Public Outreach and Information – Receiving Organized Community Feedback
• If feedback supports it: Develop and Place Measure on Ballot 19 Council Recommendation
• Receive the revenue measure polling results and recommendations from the Revenue Measure Ad Hoc Sub-Committee.
• Direct staff to continue community outreach regarding service needs and come back to Council with recommended action at the June 25 Council meeting.