What you need to know about city, county sales tax measures

Here are some things you might want to know about sales tax measures the Tehachapi City Council and Kern County Board of Supervisors have put on the Nov. 8 ballot:

■ If the measures pass, the sales tax within the city of Tehachapi and in unincorporated areas of Kern County will increase by 1 cent, which will bring it even with the sales tax charged in the city of Bakersfield (8.25 percent).

■ The proposed sales tax increases are not cumulative. In other words, it’s not an extra one cent for the city and another one cent for the county. Instead, if both measures pass, the sales tax within the city and in unincorporated areas of Kern County would increase from the

current 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent.

■ Sales tax in California generally is collected where the sale is made and about 1 cent of the current 7.25 cents collected on every dollar goes to the local jurisdiction — the city (for sales within the city) or the county (for sales in unincorporated areas). Six cents of the remainder goes to the state and .25 cents to a local transportation fund that is allocated to the county.

■ Only registered voters in the city of Tehachapi will see the Tehachapi measure on their ballot. The city is calling its ballot measure the “City of Tehachapi Local Control/Essential Services Measure.”

■ Only registered voters in the unincorporated areas of Kern County will see that measure on their ballot. The county’s measure is called the “Public Safety, Vital Services and Local Control Measure.”

■ Each measure can be passed by only 50 percent of those voting plus one vote.

CITY OUTREACH

Speaking to the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council meeting on Aug. 3, Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett said the city isn’t planning any informational meetings, but will continue to do outreach and answer voter questions.

At the GTEDC meeting, Garrett said the proposed sales tax increase would add about $4 million annually to the city’s general fund — about doubling that fund. Because the city uses this fund to pay for public safety — including fire and police services — without additional funding it will be necessary for the city to make cuts to nonessential services. “We don’t want to reduce our quality of life,” he said.

COUNTY MEETINGS

The county has planned a series of meetings including three in the Tehachapi area. They are: Aug. 11 at Golden Hills Community Services District office; Sept. 8 at the Bear Valley Community Services District office; and Sept. 19 at the Stallion Springs Community Services District office. All meetings will be from 6 to 7 p.m.

Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop, Chief Operations Officer Jim Zervis, Sheriff Donny Youngblood, District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer and Fire Chief Aaron Duncan are expected to be present at the local meetings to talk about the measure.

According to a fact sheet published online, the county’s measure “would address community priorities such as public safety, attracting jobs and industries, and helping to address mental health and addiction challenges in unincorporated communities with stable, locally controlled funding that cannot be taken by the state.”

It is estimated to generate about $54 million per year for the county’s general fund.