Saratoga News

Belt-tightening predicted in wake of Measure L's defeat

City copes with loss of revenue

By Sarah Lombardo

The campaign signs are coming down, but the city is gearing up for some changes in the wake of last week's elections.

With the defeat of Measure L, Saratoga's utility-users tax, councilmembers-elect Stan Bogosian and Jim Shaw will have their jobs cut out for them.

"It looks like we're going to have to deal with the loss of revenue," City Manager Harry Peacock said. "I think it's something that the City Council is going to have to talk about, and I think it's something that [Bogosian and Shaw] ... should be involved in."

Throughout their campaign, Bogosian and Shaw opposed Measure L. The political newcomers both said they would be in favor of a tax, but only after belt-tightening at City Hall and public discussion deemed it absolutely necessary.

Measure L, enacted in 1985 by a vote of the City Council, was defeated by a slim margin of about 100 votes. With its defeat, the city stands to lose $800,000 in tax revenue and another $691,000 in tax equity funds from Santa Clara County that are based on the tax.

With a budget of $7.4 million, city officials said during the race that such losses would be detrimental to the city and its services, but many residents said they think the city could do more with their money and might not need the utility-tax funds.

Resident Francis Stutzman said he thinks the issue of financial responsibility was one reason Bogosian and Shaw were victorious Nov. 5. He said some residents question why the city's reserves were depleted in recent years if the city was doing such a great job. He attributed the election results in part to residents' dissatisfaction with the council.

Shaw said he thought that the slim defeat of Measure L showed that many residents want to keep city services and programs.

"That was an important message, that as we go about the job of trying to handle the reduced revenue, people are going to say, 'Do what you have to do but make sure that we get the level of service back that we had before.' "

Finance Advisory Committee member Charlene Low said she thinks it will be difficult if not impossible to maintain the same level of service with the loss of the utility tax.

"It's going to be rough times if you're talking about living the way we were living on the previous budget," she said. "I think whenever you cut anyone's budget, it's going to hurt. The bottom line is, cuts will come."

Low said that how much the cuts will hurt services will depend on where the council decides to make those cuts. As a member of the advisory committee, Low said, she and the other members can recommend cuts, but the final decisions are made by the council.

Councilwoman Ann Marie Burger, who supported Measure L in her unsuccessful bid for reelection, said that with all the difficult decisions facing the council after Measure L's defeat, she might just be the lucky one.

"I really think the whole council is going to have a very difficult time," she said. "If we thought we were having trouble before, now it's going to be worse. ... This is going to be a major hit."