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City hires consulting firm to lobby for its interests
TEA was inspiration
By Kara Chalmers
Last April, the city penned a contract with a legislative advocacy firm to lobby for a bill that the city was particularly interested in seeing passed. According to Saratoga City Manager Dave Anderson, the firm monitored the bill's progress for the city, helped shepherd it through various committees, and lobbied on its behalf.
The bill, which was signed into law in September, restored the eligibility of a city in Santa Clara County to receive Tax Equity Allocation (TEA) funds subsequent to a vote of the people reinstating, increasing or imposing a new local tax. The new law will allow Saratoga to regain up to $400,000 yearly in TEA funds as of 2003.
After the passage of the bill, the city ceased its contract with the firm, Joe A. Gonsalves & Son. Soon after, John Mehaffey, who recently became mayor, asked that city staff bring the item back to the council for a discussion on retaining the firm for the current legislative session. Mehaffey said he was interested in whether the firm could provide legislative consultant services on an on-going basis and continue to lobby on the city's behalf for the city's state legislative agenda.
Staff brought a proposal back to the council on Dec. 12, to reinstate a contract, and the council voted unanimously to retain the firm for the city--for $3,000 per month
According to Mehaffey, the services the firm provided to the city concerning the TEA bill were invaluable.
"It went very smoothly, I think it went smoothly because we had him," Mehaffey said. He said Gonsalves was the city's eyes and ears in Sacramento. In addition, the decision to retain the firm means that city staff will be free from monitoring state legislation that the city is especially interested in.
As a consultant, the firm will work with the city and represent the city's interest with state legislators. If the city has a special interest in a particular piece of state legislation, the firm will monitor its progress at the state capitol. It will also assist the city in obtaining grants.
Today, the firm represents cities similar to Saratoga in that they are all cities that have low property taxes.
"They represented the city's interests last year and the city council felt confident they could actively represent the city's interest in the next legislative session," Anderson said.
The bill that Gonsalves & Son lobbied for this past year concerned TEA funds, which are matching funds from the county collected from property taxes. Saratoga lost these funds when voters repealed the utility-users tax in the November 1996 election. Because the city now has a local tax similar to the utility-users tax--the $15 million general obligation bond measure for a new library that voters passed in March--the city is once again eligible, according to the new law. The city can now collect matching funds on the library bond, up to the amount they collected before 1996.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
