Tax will fund city pensions

The Argus-Courier invited two Petaluma residents to pen the pro and con arguments for Measure Q, Petaluma's proposed 1-cent sales tax hike. To read the accompanying piece, click here.

Measure Q offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Petaluma politics. And contrary to what Measure Q supporters will tell you, it has nothing to do with fixing roads or building the Rainier cross-town connector. It's all about raises and pensions.

Measure Q was put on the ballot by a city council majority looking to raise additional money while doing nothing about the employee pension crisis that created the need for more money in the first place. Notwithstanding a $55 million pension liability that continues to grow unabated, the council majority wants you to believe the money generated from the proposed 1 percent sales tax increase will be used instead for a Christmas wish list of municipal projects ranging from Rainier and road repairs to rehabilitated fire houses, new police cars and broken street lamps. That's not likely with the pension wolf knocking at the door.

If the council majority had been serious about any of these projects, they could have made Measure Q a 'special purpose' tax that would guarantee use of the money for the projects promised. Instead, and contrary to the wishes of voters as polled by the city, Measure Q was made a 'general purpose' tax that effectively creates a slush fund for current and future councils to spend however they wish. Further, Measure Q was made permanent so that it never goes away.

So why did the council majority ignore voter sentiment and opt for an unrestricted general purpose tax? First, a tax restricted to road repairs and Rainier requires two-thirds voter approval whereas an unrestricted tax requires a bare majority. Second, of course, is the flexibility an unrestricted tax gives the current and future councils to spend the money for whatever pet programs or projects they may choose.

Offsetting the seeming advantage of a lower voter approval threshold, however, is that Petalumans simply don't trust their council to make smart financial decisions and are unlikely to approve any tax without assurances as to how the money will be spent.

Seeking to overcome that voter distrust, and knowing that many voters automatically approve anything backed by police officers and firefighters, the council majority set out to form an alliance with the police and fire unions. Not coincidentally, both unions are currently engaged in contract negotiations with the cash-strapped city and would like nothing more than to find a big pool of money to be tapped for raises and pensions. In Measure Q, they see that pool. In fact, contract negotiations are being stalled until after the November election in hopes the tax will pass. But, and here's the rub, if Measure Q was restricted to road repairs and the Rainier connector as voters want, the unions would be shut out.

A little political horse-trading was in order. In exchange for union support, the council majority set voter sentiment aside and made Measure Q an unrestricted tax thus ensuring its availability for raises and pensions. Further, the city manager was telling anyone who would listen as recently as a month ago that an unrestricted tax could in fact be made restricted by pledging its revenues to secure repayment of loans (i.e., bonds) borrowed before the tax revenues come in (think of it as an advance against your paycheck). He has stopped making that argument

in deference to the police and fire unions now on board.

Notwithstanding that voters want road repairs and the Rainier connector, the council majority went another way. With the council majority already beholden to police and fire unions for campaign contributions and endorsements, it is no surprise that they put on the ballot a measure intended to pay for union members' raises and pensions. Empty and unenforceable promises that Measure Q will pay for road repairs or the Rainier connector will be forgotten as soon as the election is over. Don't be fooled. Vote No on Measure Q.

(Dan Drummond is the executive director of the Sonoma County Taxpayers' Association and resides in Petaluma).