Supplemental Sales Tax Oversight Committee

Staff

• Ryan Cornell, Director of Administrative Services
• Catherine Piatti, Finance Manager
• Freda Berman, Public Works Director
• Ditas Esperanza, Capital Projects Engineer
• Damian Nord, Chief of Police
• Jonathan Stornetta, Chief of Emergency Services

About the Committee

To ensure public trust, the City Council created an Oversight Committee to verify funds were used as requested. The "Oversight" Committee was formed to aid, and by, the City Council. As such, it is a public body subject to California’s public meeting laws. That means all meetings of the Committee are public, complete with published agendas, staff reports, public participation, etc.

The Supplemental Sales Tax Committee provides a forum for citizens to review and report to both the City Council and the community as a whole on matters relating to Supplemental Sales Tax revenues and expenditures resulting from both Measure E-12, approved by the voters in 2012, and Measure J-20, approved by the voters in 2020. The Committee provides oversight of the expenditures of the supplemental sales tax revenues to ensure that they are being spent on community priorities established by the City Council, based on information gained from business and resident surveys and other means. The Committee shall determine if the funds were spent appropriately, and report that to the Council and public. The Committee may also provide advice to staff and the Council.

About Measure J-20

In November 2020, the voters of Paso Robles approved Measure J-20, a one-cent supplemental sales tax (SST), beginning on April 1, 2021, and ending on March 31, 2033 (unless ended earlier by the voters). It has the potential to generate approximately $10 million each year in sales tax revenues. The significance of this additional revenue to the City cannot be overstated. As a point of comparison, the City’s General Fund operating and capital projects budged this year total $48.5 million—meaning, this measure will generate an additional 20-25% more revenue for the City each year. The main priorities for spending the Measure J-20 SST revenue—as approved by City Council in Resolution 20-118—are for the following purposes:

1. Fire and Emergency Services: Preserve the 6 SAFER firefighter positions currently on the squad unit; hire three captains to fully staff and operate Fire Station 3; hire three additional Firefighters to mitigate overtime costs; ensure all fire suppression staff and paramedics have the equipment and supplies they need to perform effectively and safely; further reduce the community’s vulnerability to wildland fires through annual vegetation management projects in the Salinas Riverbed and west of the City; and upgrade response capabilities to fire and other natural disasters.

2. Police Services: Hire and train police officers at necessary levels to provide essential policing functions not able to be provided now and position the Police Department to meet current and future public safety needs of the community; augment police training in critical areas such as active shooter prevention and response, de-escalation techniques, and enhanced arrest and control tactics; add the Salinas Riverbed as a new Police beat, regularly patrolled, to prevent homeless encampments and direct indigents to available services; and secure ancillary services for individuals and families facing issues of drug abuse, mental illness, and abuse.

3. Street Repair and Maintenance: Maintain and repair high-priority street segments that cannot now be addressed at the optimal time given the limited funds available from current sources.  It is expected that these projects would be highly visible and important to a large segment of the community. High-priority work can include reconstruction work on a major street like Niblick Road, as well as the repair of an entire neighborhood area surrounding a school. Current revenues are insufficient to address significant infrastructure improvements such as these given the funding required to simply keep pace with street maintenance on Paso Roble’s 350+ lane miles of roadway.

About Measure E-12

In 2012, the voters of Paso Robles approved Measure E-12, a half-cent supplemental sales tax (SST) that generates approximately $5.0 million per year. Although E-12 is a general tax (meaning it can legally be used for a general government purpose), the tax was intended to fund the City’s street repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation projects. Over the past eight years, the City has completed over 18 projects totaling over $33.0 million, with an additional $15.6 million committed towards uncompleted projects. In addition to the Measure E-12 SST monies, the City also receives funding from Gas Tax, the State’s Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program (commonly known as SB 1), as well as federal/state grants and development impact fees (DIF). Taken together, the City contributes an average of over $6.0 million each year in street repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation projects. However, an analysis of the City’s streets and their pavement condition index (PCI) demonstrated that, in order to just maintain existing conditions, investment in street repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation should total more than $10-$15 million per year.  

On February 4, 2020, City Council approved the Updated Six-Year Street Maintenance and Repair Plan which outlines the specific street segments anticipated to be constructed over the remaining four years of the Measure E-12 SST (the measure has an automatic expiration date of March 31, 2025, unless voters approve its extension beforehand). 

Ongoing Projects

See Public Works Capital Projects.