Reso 2010-104 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORDINANCE NO. 2010-XX AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO IMPOSING A TRANSACTIONS AND USE TAX TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION WHEREAS, the State has already taken $7 million from San Leandro to solve its own budget crisis, and with a $17 billion deficit, is threatening to take more; and WHEREAS, with local revenues down $11.6 million over the last four years due to State raids and the recession, the City has had to cut critical services the community needs and relies on, including public safety, streets, libraries, and parks which keep our community strong; and WHEREAS, the City has drastically reduced spending, including reducing staff by almost 20% over the last two years (95 full time positions) freezing most employee salaries, implementing atwo-tier retirement system, furloughing most employees, closing City offices once a month, and using a significant percentage of the City's emergency reserves; and WHEREAS, without additional revenue the City must make additional cuts to address the remaining $3 million budget shortfall including, eliminating seven more police officers, a code enforcement officer and an animal control officer; removing a fire ladder truck and nine firefighters from service in July 2011; and dramatically reducing street repairs, libraries, senior programs, and youth recreation services; and WHEREAS, with police and fire protection comprising over 60% of the City's general fund budget, the City cannot avoid more cuts to public safety, resulting in longer 9-1-1 emergency response times; and WHEREAS, without additional revenue, the City cannot provide the level of services that over 1000 residents have identified as priorities; and WHEREAS, alocally-enacted revenue measure would protect and maintain San Leandro services because the money is legally required to stay in our community and cannot be taken by the State, providing locally controlled funds for local services; and WHEREAS, at its June 7, 2010 meeting, the City Council adopted a budget for FY 2010-11 that recognized the need for additional revenue to maintain and preserve the level of services desired by residents of the City; and WHEREAS, at its July 19, 2010 meeting, the Council considered calling a special election to seek voter approval of a proposed general transactions and use tax (or "sales tax"), as authorized by Revenue and Taxation Code section 7285.9; and WHEREAS, at that meeting, the City Council concluded that all of the information presented indicated that, to obtain the revenue necessary to maintain and preserve service levels, the Council should call an election to ask the voters of the City to approve a 7-year local