Union City sales tax extension merits voter support

Click on right here for an entire record of our election suggestions.

Six Alameda County cities, together with Union Metropolis, have complete gross sales tax charges of 10.75%, greater than anyplace else in California.

Due to that, as Union Metropolis seeks voter approval to maintain its fee that prime, it might be straightforward for some to oppose the measure. However a deeper look reveals why Measure Z on the Nov. 8 poll deserves voter help.

It’s not the town’s fault that the tax is so excessive. Fairly, blame voters all through Alameda County. To know why, contemplate the three parts of gross sales tax charges in California:

There’s the statewide portion of seven.25%, of which the state retains 6% and provides the native counties and cities the opposite $1.25%.

Then there are the countywide taxes, which complete 3% in Alameda County, together with 0.5% for BART. That’s the place the issue is. No different county within the state comes near that 3% fee. The following highest is Los Angeles at 2.25%.

To that, Union Metropolis and the 5 different Alameda County cities — Alameda, Albany, Hayward, Newark and San Leandro — have added 0.5%. That’s frequent in California.

To their credit score, Union Metropolis officers haven’t made their portion everlasting. They obtained voter approval in 2010 and, as the unique tax was about to run out, acquired permission from voters in 2014 to increase it to 2025. Now, with Measure Z, they’re looking for voter approval to increase the town tax to 2034.

The town portion at the moment raises about $6.3 million yearly, which is a key a part of Union Metropolis’s normal fund revenues of $83.5 million. Metropolis officers have run a lean operation, particularly in the course of the pandemic. Nonetheless, with out the gross sales tax extension, the town would face finances deficits beginning within the 2025-26 fiscal 12 months.

For the reason that gross sales tax was final prolonged in 2014, metropolis officers have gone to the voters looking for approval for different taxes. Voters authorised a parcel tax extension in 2016, authorised a hashish enterprise tax and really properly rejected a tax on property transfers in 2018, and authorised a utility tax in 2020.

It unlucky that the town wants the gross sales tax extension. However it does and it shouldn’t be punished for the countywide excesses. Voters ought to approve Measure Z.