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"We've all heard the tale of that wise old owl,
Who lived on the limb of an oak.
He listened, and watched, and heard, and saw,
But seldom ever spoke.
When things got so bad, his wisdom he shared,
And to City Watch he invoked.
It's time, he said, for your group to be heard,
So people will know there is hope!"
-Anonymous
ABOUT CITY WATCH...
City Watch, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, volunteer operated & membership supported educational organization established in 1989. It's mission includes local government education with a focus on fiscal issues affecting the Salinas & Monterey areas.
All content on this official website is for the benefit of City Watch, Inc. and is for educational non-commercial use only.
Anyone can become a City Watch volunteer and membership is open to persons 18 years of age or older. Annual dues are $20 a member or $35 for a couple.
Send dues, charitable donations & correspondence to:
City Watch, Inc.
PO Box 3954
Salinas, CA 93912
Email:
contact@joincitywatch.org
Chairman of the Board:
Gene Lee
Phone: (831) 275-0695
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June 2005 in Review: Salinas City Budget & More Taxes
Posted on Sunday, July 03 @ 19:23:59 EDT by Webmaster
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 by City Watch
Bulletin & Website Committee
Want to know how Salinas City government is spending your money? You wouldn't have seen the big picture at any June 2005 budget meeting. The City Council approved over $114 million in spending and tax-hike crusaders hatched a scheme for more taxes. These and more were hot issues in the month of June.
 The month started out with deception when the mayor and city council members received a Power Point budget report of over 100 slides for their meeting on June 7, but the public was only shown a small portion at the meeting.
City Watch received a printed copy of the hidden slides three days after the meeting because a member requested public disclosure. The slides show sales tax revenue increasing and property tax revenue skyrocketing, despite statements to the contrary by city officials. The slides also show how expensive city government employee retirement benefits are.
We would have never known about the hidden budgets slides if our member hadn't heard clues of their existence at the budget meeting, because they were missing from our reference material received from city hall before the meeting.
 After a year of adopting tentative budgets, on June 14 the Salinas City Council finally approved a budget authorizing the spending of $114,722,300 over a 12 month period beginning July 1. When divided by a population of 154,500, this equals $743 per capita. (Click here or the icon on the right to view a budget graph that was shown exclusively to the mayor and council members.)
At the same meeting, they directed staff to propose a "blank check" general tax measure at their July 12 meeting for an "emergency" special election to increase the sales tax rate from 7.25% to 7.75%. The proposed tax hike can deliver more pay raises and enhanced benefits for city employees.
The city council also voted to increase the annual assessment on Oldtown businesses. At the previous meeting, Oldtown restaurateur James Sang protested the assessment and reported that the money was being mismanaged and not helping Oldtown businesses.
 Meanwhile, tax-hike crusaders Dennis Donohue and Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero were scheming a tax-hike strategy at the Madonna del Sasso Church on Sunday, June 26. At a poorly attended meeting, they revealed their strategy to frighten voters by targeting public safety and youth issues. Attendees were asked to write letters to newspapers supporting an “emergency” special election for this November, apparently to incite a panic.
The cost of a special election is something taxpayers should fear because the county Registrar of Voters estimated it at $90,000.
* Published July 3, 2005
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Average Score: 4.2
Votes: 5
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