Keep focus on tax for Petaluma’s streets

City leaders should push for a sales tax dedicated to street repairs.|

As Petaluma’s leaders move forward with a potential sales tax measure for the November ballot, they are seeking input from the public on what the future revenue could fund.

We encourage residents to visit the city’s website and take their online survey to express your opinion on the city’s top priorities.

A potential sales tax measure could take two different forms. A specific tax would lock the revenue into a narrow spending plan for a project like street repairs. It requires two-thirds of voter approval to pass.

A general tax can be used for any spending purpose, and the city has several.

Certainly all of the categories listed in the city’s online survey, including pothole repairs, new police officers and upgraded fire equipment, could be considered underfunded needs of the city.

But the top priority of most residents as verified by earlier surveys, the one that should get first dibs of any new tax revenue, is street repairs.

Petaluma’s abysmal streets have long been ranked among the worst in the Bay Area, and they are only going to get worse without a dedicated funding source.

The state gas tax, which has typically gone to fund street repairs, has been flat, and until state lawmakers find an alternative transportation funding mechanism, local municipalities like Petaluma are going to have to help themselves.

This November, the city should pursue a specific tax with the revenue dedicated to street repairs.

A specific tax gives voters confidence that the spending plan is locked in and the money will go where it was intended, in this case to fix the crumbling pavement.

The city’s general fund should take care of the other priorities.

Both the city and county have tried, in consecutive years, to pass general sales tax measures that have masqueraded as road repair measures.

Petaluma’s Measure Q in 2014 and Sonoma County’s Measure A last year were both defeated as voters said they were not confident that leaders would spend the revenue as promised.

Other questions about a potential tax measure still need to be addressed, including the length and the size of the sales tax.

While Petaluma voters rejected a one-cent tax increase with no end date in 2014, a smaller tax - say a half-cent - with a 10- or 20-year term would likely be more palatable.

With a united city council in support of a specific street repair sales tax and a robust campaign in favor of the measure, we can finally get the funding source that will allow us to solve one of the most pressing problems facing the city.

Though they have a month to place a measure on the ballot, the city council should act sooner rather than later. There needs to be time to build community support and allow for a strong grassroots campaign in order to have success at the ballot box.

We are glad that the city is taking the time to seek residents’ feedback, but we urge city officials to keep the focus on a specific tax measure. Let’s once and for all fix Petaluma’s streets.

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