Half Moon Bay ponders financial future without sales tax hike

By Anthony Myers
For the San Mateo County Times

Posted: 11/03/2010 09:53:04 PM PDT

Updated: 11/04/2010 12:33:34 AM PDT

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting this morning to discuss the city's budget prospects after the defeat Tuesday of a critical 1-cent sales tax increase measure.

With voters having rejected Measure K by 53 percent to 47 percent, Half Moon Bay now must contend with a $500,000 budget deficit for the current fiscal year, according to Interim City Manager Michael Dolder.
"We're going to cut costs," Dolder said. "We can't get a line of credit."
Dolder said one way to cut costs would be to contract out some city services. Measure K, which was backed by city leaders, would have raised $1.4 million dollars a year for seven years, enough to avoid further cuts to police and recreation programs, for example.
"I'm very disappointed voters didn't see the impact Measure K would have had," City Councilman John Muller said. "We'll just have to deal with less."
The city has already cut half its recreation programs, one-fifth of the Police Department and deferred street repairs in response to dwindling property tax revenue and an obligation to pay $1.1 million a year toward the Beachwood property lawsuit settlement.
Mayor Marina Fraser said there is no other funding for the city to fall back on. Whether or not some services are contracted out, there will be fewer of them, she said.
"We asked people to make a decision," Fraser said. "And we'll be able to do what the community has asked for."
Though the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce supported Measure K, some business owners were pleased Wednesday with the election results.A woman named Robin who manages Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel on Main Street said she was happy the sales tax didn't pass.
"We had customers call us in the last two weeks saying they would drop us if it passed," said Robin, who declined to give her last name. The city should spend less on parks and more on business, she said.
Theron Kabrich, an art dealer, called Measure K "window dressing." He said he was sympathetic to the need for more revenue, but he still was against Measure K.
"We're a high-end store -- $1,000, $2,000 items," he said. "It's a further burden on high-end stores."
Today's meeting was slated to take the form of a general discussion. Dolder declined to speculate on what form contracting out city services might take. He did say, however, that there is no chance Half Moon Bay will disincorporate, as some have suggested.
"That's never been on the table," he said. "Besides, it's nearly impossible to do."
The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Coastside County Water District at 766 Main St.