Battle brewing over public safety tax in Salinas.

To tax or not to tax – this time, that’s not the question. The question is, should that tax be a general one or special one?

That debate will soon be taking front stage in Salinas, where two groups have proposed taxes to fund public safety.

Residents agree resources for public safety are lacking. Where the battle line is drawn is how new resources should be funded.

On March 25, the Salinas City Council voted to draft language for a November ballot measure to increase the general sales tax by 1 cent for a period of 15 years. This money could be used to fund police and anti-gang efforts, as well as other city priorities that are not public-safety related. In the coming months, the council will decide what that language will be.

Meanwhile, proponents of a special tax – a tax that can only be used to fund things like police, fire, and code enforcement officers – are gearing up for their own run at a ballot measure.

“We do not see [the city’s proposal] as a measure that would focus on public safety,” says Amit Pandya, a leader of special tax proponent Committee for Public Safety 2014. The group says there’s no guarantee safety priorities will be addressed.

The City Council’s decision comes more than a year after the first rumblings of a public safety tax, which has since been topic of numerous community meetings.

Councilman Steve McShane was the first to make the proposal, he says, after a string of crimes in his South Salinas district prompted a rally about poor police response. Police have said cases like murders and shootings take priority over petty crimes, which the Salinas Police Department doesn’t have the resources to address promptly.

McShane at first aligned himself with special tax advocates, but has since changed his position. The councilman says he believes a general tax has a greater chance of passing: During the election, a general tax measure would only need to get 50 percent of the vote, plus one voter. A special tax needs a two-thirds vote.

Plus, McShane says, the tax would be subject to an oversight committee independent of the City Council.

Monterey Bay Central Labor Council Executive Director Cesar Lara also favors a general tax. “The needs of the community today might be different two years from now or 10 years from now,” he says.

But special tax advocates aren’t convinced. The Committee for Public Safety 2014 plans to file its special tax measure with the Salinas City Clerk’s Office in early April, then gather the signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot.

Their measure says money will be used to hire 100 new police officers, improve the police department building, upgrade the fire department and employ 20 code officers, among the priorities.

“This is an uphill battle,” Pandya admits. “We’re not city-funded and union-funded like the general tax is.” But, he says, it’s the only way that guarantees the tax will be used as it was meant.

Bob Perkins, a member of the Pandya group, puts it this way: “Everybody wants everything and the city has no clear priority of what they want to do. When the voters vote for a general tax, they don’t know what they’re going to get.”