In late March, pollsters with the public opinion and strategy firm FM3 talked on the phone with 343 likely Monterey voters. They wanted to know if those voters would support a possible tax hike in November.
The results were favorable: Nearly 60 percent support a penny or half-penny sales tax increase. But there were a few caveats.
“Support is fairly tentative – just as many voters said they would ‘definitely’ vote against a sales tax increase as said they would ‘definitely’ vote for it – suggesting that additional information and education about the city’s needs will be an important pre-condition for many voters feeling comfortable with supporting a sales tax increase,” FM3 reported.
The City Council voted 3-2 April 15 to create an advisory committee to evaluate the need for a tax measure and advise the city on public outreach.
“A revenue measure isn’t to fix or straighten out the city’s ongoing budget,” City Manager Mike McCarthy says. “It really is for infrastructure we haven’t properly budgeted for, and to help long-term financial strategies.
“One of those may be to pay off our pension side fund [of roughly $12.7 million].”
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