Editor’s Note: This article was updated May 16 at 12:44 p.m. to include a comment from Supervisor Dom Zanger.
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The San Benito County Board of Supervisors turned down a potential 1% sales tax increase for the unincorporated areas of the county.
Supervisors Angela Curro, Kollin Kosmicki and Mindy Sotelo opposed the increase, which was discussed in a special meeting May 14. There was no vote.
Sotelo did not agree with the timing of the proposed measure.
“I don’t think this is a good year to be doing it,” she said. “I think there’s going to be a lot that’s on the ballot. I don’t want to do that to our residents.”
However, she said the board may not have a choice in the future.
“I think we’re getting to a really critical point that we may have to make some really hard decisions and we may have to move forward in the coming years,” she said.
California’s current sales tax is 7.25%. Since 1969, local governments have been allowed to impose additional sales taxes, but they must be approved by the voters. The unincorporated areas of the county collect 8.25%, Hollister collects 9.25% and San Juan Bautista collects 9%, according to the presentation by Principal Administrative Analyst Dulce Alonso to the board.
The proposed 1% increase was recommended by the Economic Development Ad Hoc Committee two years ago. The committee consisted of Kosmicki and then-Supervisor Bob Tiffany, Alonso told BenitoLink.
To get the proposed sales tax on the Nov. 5 election ballot, the county would need to submit the measure by Aug. 9, Alonso told the board.
It would cost the county $20,000 to $30,000 to add the measure to the upcoming election, she said.
During the meeting it was unclear if Supervisor Dom Zanger agreed with the proposed tax hike. Zanger told BenitoLink on May 16 that he too oposed the increase.
Curro called for an audit to ensure that the county’s sales taxes were being collected correctly.
Joe Paul Gonzalez, the county’s auditor-controller, said HDL Companies monitors sales taxes for the county.
“They were quite successful at rerouting sales taxes that were being reported to the city and county of San Francisco that belong to San Benito County,” Gonzalez said, adding that several million dollars were redirected.
Conversely, Supervisor Bea Gonzales said there is still a problem.
“When we started this conversation a few years ago, the timing wasn’t great either,” Gonzales said. “I totally understand but looking at the finances for the county, I can’t help but think we need to do something and thinking about it isn’t going to get the job done.”
In 2022, the board considered a sales tax hike but did not pursue it. At that time, the county estimated a tax increase would generate an additional $3.34 million annually. According to the presentation included in the 2022 agenda packet, of the 7.25% sales tax that goes to the state, 3.94% goes into the state’s general fund; 1.063% goes into the Revenue Fund 2011 with different accounts; 0.5% goes into a public safety fund; another 0.5% goes to a state fund that supports local health and social services programs; and the last 1.25% is split across funds that support county transportation and city/county operations.
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