Saratoga News

County agrees to proposal for city allocation

By Sarah Lombardo

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last week approved the allocation of almost $675,000 in its budget to be given to the city of Saratoga to help ease the burden of the loss of the utility-user's tax, and matching county funds, in last November's election.

The amount represents almost a year's worth of tax-equity allocation (TEA) funds and is expected to be given to the city in two-year increments, starting the first year that TEA funding is scheduled to be cut off.

TEA funds were attached to the city's utility-user's tax. When voters defeated the tax in the last election, the city's right to TEA county funds went with it, leaving a combined hole in the city budget of $1.4 million.

According to county Supervisor Joe Simitian, the city will receive about $450,000 the first year and $225,000 the next.

The deal comes with only one condition, Simitian said. "The only string attached is that in order to receive the funding, the city has to maintain the level of law enforcement in its contract within that two years. They could change it, but then the funds would be discontinued."

Simitian said the condition reflects the board's concern about funding public safety in light of the city's budget crunch.

"When I learned of this funding reduction, I became concerned that the loss of city revenue might be too abrupt and that vital local services, public safety in particular, could be jeopardized," he said.

Simitian admitted that it was the concern for maintaining law-enforcement spending that finally pushed the board to agree to allocate the funds to Saratoga. After all, Simitian said, Saratoga is one of the more affluent districts in the county, and the tax funds were lost through a vote of the residents."The case I made was that it was in everybody's interest for this transition to be an orderly one," Simitian said.

City Councilman Paul Jacobs said the extra funding will make the transition smoother, but stressed that the money was a one-time windfall and can't be counted on in the future.

"It obviously eases the pain for the city from the loss of the utility tax, but when you are talking about the needs of the city, you need to rely on a steady stream of income as opposed to a one-time thing," he said.

Jacobs cautioned that the fund may even lull residents into not realizing the extent of the burden the city had suffered after the loss of the tax.

"It will disguise the true impact of the loss," he said.

Because the city has yet to sign an agreement with the county relating to the funds and the council has not had a chance to formally discuss them, Interim City Manager Larry Perlin said it is not known how the money will be spent.

"It's very generous," he said, "but there are still some unknowns."

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]