FERNDALE - A measure asking for an increase in sales tax to pay for street repairs and maintenance will go before Ferndale voters next November.
The Ferndale Transportation Benefit District board decided Monday, Dec. 5, to put the two-tenths of 1 percent sales tax increase on the Nov. 6, 2012, general election ballot. The board is the City Council wearing a different legislative hat.
The board voted 5-2, with Jon Mutchler and Steve Malpezzi opposed.
If voters approve such a measure - it would need a simple majority - the sales tax increase could bring in about $300,000 a year, city officials have said.
Such an increase would mean that for every $100 spent in the city on qualifying purchases, an additional 20 cents would be collected.
Previous discussions had focused on the possibility of the board putting the sales tax increase before voters for the Feb. 14 special election, but that idea was voted down 2-5 on Monday.
Instead, board member Keith Olson proposed that the measure go on the November ballot, where there will be more municipalities to absorb the cost of the election and when the city wouldn't be on the same ballot as the Ferndale School District.
Ferndale schools will ask district voters to approve a replacement four-year maintenance and operations levy in February.
If approved, that school levy would bring in between $13 million and $15.5 million each year from 2013-2016
"They've got their hand out asking for money. We're going to have our hand out asking for money," Olson said, adding that the city's sales tax effort could lose with two tax requests going before voters.
The school levy would affect property taxes.
And if the city loses, Olson said he would prefer to pay the lower price tag for having a measure on the November ballot; that would cost an estimated $3,000 to $5,000 instead of $25,000 for the February special election, the board was told on Monday.
(Olson, who in November won election to the City Council seat left empty when Connie Faria moved, has been sworn in to finish out her term, which ends Dec. 31.)
As for Mutchler, he voted down the proposal because he wanted a "hybrid" approach that would combine a $12 fee per car tab, which wouldn't have to go before voters, with a request for a one-tenth of 1 percent increase going before voters in February.
Malpezzi said he voted against putting the increase request on the ballot because he didn't believe the public would support it.
And he said the issue was one of priorities, noting that money that would have come from the solid waste tax to pay for street maintenance and repair has instead been shifted elsewhere, referring specifically to help pay for a new police station. Malpezzi voted against the police station project.
If voters approve the sales tax increase to pay for street repairs and maintenance in Ferndale, then the money coming in would pay for the cost of the election. If the increase is voted down, the money would have to come from the city of Ferndale's lean budget.
The City Council formed a citywide transportation benefit district Nov. 21. The city was searching for ways to pay for about $15.6 million in street maintenance, preservation and reconstruction projects as previous funding sources dwindled.
