ELK GROVE, Calif. — Elk Grove has put their first-ever city-wide measure on the ballot for the November election.
Described as a safety and quality of life tax, Measure E is meant to provide more funding for the city to address needs toward public safety, traffic, homelessness, beautification of public spaces and more.
If passed, the one cent sales tax measure would bring in an additional $21 million annually to the city of Elk Grove. There's no sunset on this tax measure, meaning it's there to stay until ended by voters.
"I think the city has been good stewards of taxpayer dollars since its incorporation, and we want to continue to grow in a smart (and) wise way and protect the quality of life and safety of our of our community. And so just encourage residents to educate themselves on what the measure would do or could do, and see if it's something that they feel is worthwhile and investing in," said Jason Behrmann, city manager for Elk Grove.
The tax measure and the potential funds casts a wide net, but the common theme behind them is that this is what Elk Grove's community is saying needs to be done, according to Behrmann.
Before launching the ballot measure, the city heard from numerous community groups to get an understanding of what they think is important and needed in the future.
"it was clear that there were some unmet needs.," Behrmann said.
Among those are some public safety needs, which would include boosts to patrols, staffing, and additional firefighters to lower response times. Funds could also go toward some of the city's homelessness and affordable housing initiatives.
It'll be up to Elk Grove City Council to decide how the money is allocated, but Behrmann said the priority is likely to lean toward public safety. That could include funding to help lower the 7 1/2 minute response time that Cosumnes Fire Department has for Elk Grove calls in the past year or funding to help increase crime reductions efforts, like patrols and prevention programs. Officials said there were 325 robberies and burglaries and nearly 200 car thefts last year.
Other efforts would include keeping parks and public spaces clean and maintained. It could include repairing public bathrooms, sports fields and playgrounds or even security lighting upgrades.
Elk Grove could also look into the traffic woes around the city, addressing street maintenance, traffic signal timing, and potential upgrades. Behrmann said efforts could also include looking at areas where roadways could be expanded.
"A lot of this is looking to the future as being strategic and planning ahead, and sometimes when you look to the future, you see potential concerns or threats and things. We want to really, really badly maintain and improve the quality of life for our residents and create a thriving business environment for our businesses, and just make sure that Elk Grove remains a great place into the future," Behrmann said.
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