With the city of Eureka in a fiscal crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Eureka City Council will consider placing a measure on the November ballot asking voters to approve a 1.25 percent supplemental transaction and use tax (STUT) to be used for funding city services.

The draft measure as written in the staff report:

To maintain police, fire, 911 emergency medical response; youth/senior services; local business and jobs support; street repair/road safety; community health services; homeless prevention programs; parks and recreation; and other essential services; shall an ordinance renewing the City of Eureka’s voter-approved sales tax at the 1.25c rate be adopted until ended by voters, providing an estimated $9,600,000 annually, with independent citizen oversight, annual audits, and all funds spent to benefit local residents?

If approved the measure would extend and raise an already existing half a percent sales tax, approved in 2010 through Measure O. The tax was then extended by Eureka voters in 2014 by the passage of Measure Q, which sunset in June of this year sunsets in June of 2021.

The city recently drastically cut its budget for the upcoming fiscal year and city staff argues that this tax will be absolutely necessary to avoid “draconian measures in order to reduce a structural budget deficit,” the staff report states.

But it seems that the city feels at least somewhat confident that voters would approve this tax, after hiring independent public outreach firm EMC Research to conduct public opinion polls. Those polls showed a majority of those surveyed were in favor of the tax.

You can find more information on maintaining the city’s services on the City of Eureka’s website and also fill out a survey, which will help inform how the funding from the tax would be distributed.

The council will be asked tonight to approve the wording of the draft measure to be placed on the ballot for the November 3 general election, and to decide how it would like to move forward with the submission of arguments for and against the measure.

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In other business, the council will receive an update from staff on the city’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan, following a discussion on the plan during a special meeting on July 7.

During the special meeting, Will Folger, Director of Human Resources for Eureka, presented the council with some research and findings on the development of a diversity plan, which staff had concluded would require the help of outside professionals.

The biggest barrier to rolling out a plan, Folger said, is funding. City staff had expressed interest in a proposal presented by Fogbreak — a Berkeley-based agency that provides education and training on racial justice— which estimated costs at about $50,000.

But as luck would have it, the City of Eureka recently received roughly $50,000 through awards from two class action lawsuits against Verizon Wireless and Monsanto, Eureka Interim City Manager Miles Slattery told the Outpost today.

Slattery said the funds will be used towards a Diversity and Inclusion program, which is “very much a high priority for our council.”

The Eureka City Council meets virtually tonight at 6 p.m. You can view the meeting agenda here.

How to participate:

You can view the City Council meetings live on the City of Eureka’s website at www.ci.eureka.ca.gov or on Cable Channel 10. To view from the website, select the Watch City Council Meetings orange button from the home page.

Members of the Public who wish to speak and be heard during the Council meeting, may submit their phone number and the name of the item that they would like to comment on by e-mail to cityclerk@ci.eureka.ca.gov or leave a message at 707.441.4175. The City Clerk will call the public member during the discussion of the item or the public member may request the Zoom meeting link to log into the meeting for comment.

If you don’t want to call in during the meeting, please submit your comment via email to the City Clerk at cityclerk@ci.eureka.ca.gov or you may leave a message at 707.441.4175 prior to 4:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 to ensure that Council receives your comment before the meeting. All comments received by e-mail or mail will be part of the public record for Council consideration but will not be read aloud during the meeting.

For items not on the agenda, please make a note that is a “Public Comment” submission. Only those messages that state they are for public comment will be included in the record.

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CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to indicate that Eureka’s Measure Q sunsets in 2021, not 2020. The Outpost regrets the error.