Training starts mid-January
ATASCADERO – The voters of Atascadero approved in the November elections the D-20, a general sales tax of 1 cent, and the municipal officials will start their public awareness work through 10 public meetings from mid-January.
Measure D-20 was channelled as a basic tax on public services and finances fire protection, emergency medical services and 911 emergency calls, police services, crime prevention and investigation, maintenance of parks, public facilities and infrastructure, graffiti removal, and recreation, utilities and other general services in the city of Atascadero.
As this is a general turnover tax measure, the city is not legally obliged to spend the funds generated by the increase in one place and more than 50% is required to implement this measure. Special measures in the field of turnover tax that legally limit resources to a certain purpose require a two-thirds vote. Among Atascadero voters, more than 58% voted for the increase.
Thanks to the voters of Atascadero for passing this tax measure in November, said Atascadero councillor, Rachel Rickard, at the city council meeting on the 8th. December. We want to ensure public participation and give residents ample opportunity to give their opinion on how these extra funds will be spent. We organize a series of ten meetings, nine training sessions and a launch event.
Public meetings and information sessions start with the kick-off meeting of the City Council on the 12th. January, which can be consulted online on the city’s website. After the first meeting, Atascadero will hold nine more meetings at different times, giving everyone the chance to attend at least one meeting.
The schedule of meetings is as follows:
Training session 1 : Thursday the 14th. January at 10:00.
Training session 2 : Thursday the 14th. January at 2 p.m.
Training session 3 : Wednesday the 20th. January at 16.00 hours
Training session 4 : Saturday the 23rd. January at 10:00.
Training session 5 : Thursday the 28th. January at 18.00 hours
Training session 6 : Friday the 29th. January at noon.
Training session 7 : Monday the 1st. February at 1.30 pm
Training session 8 : Thursday the 4th. February at 4 p.m.
Training session 9 : Saturday the 6th. February at 9:00.
During the city council meetings on the 14th. July and 22nd. On 9 September, the Council adopted two measures to ensure public participation and accountability of measures relating to turnover taxes. Public information meetings are the first part of a two-stage process. The first step is the collection of basic data and the public process. The second phase concerns the responsibility and presentation of the annual report, which is discussed together with the annual audit of the city in a joint meeting of the Finance Committee and the Sales Tax Supervision Committee (STOC), which is widely publicised.
The CSTOC was established in 2014 following the adoption of the city’s last tax measure. The committee consists of nine community members; seven members are appointed to the committee by individual community groups in Atascadero and the municipal council appoints two.
The increase in the 1-cent sales tax will increase the city of Atascadero’s sales tax from 7.75 percent to 8.75 percent and should generate an additional $4.5 million in annual revenue. The tax will only be paid on 1 January. April 2021: entry into force.
For more information, please visit the city’s website at www.atascadero.org.
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