Measure L Oversight Committee meets
The Measure L Oversight Committee held its first meeting Monday night at Carnegie Forum to review the city’s current use of funds from the measure.
The oversight committee is composed of five members representing the city’s five voting districts — Gary Woehl representing District 1, Terrence Spring representing District 2, Phillip Pennino representing District 3, Spencer Rhoads representing District 4, and Manmit “Mikey” Hothi representing District 5.
The Lodi City Council selected the Measure L Oversight Committee as a stipulation of the measure’s passage.
Measure L, a half-cent sales tax hike that was passed by voters last November, raised Lodi’s sales tax from 7.75 cents per dollar to 8.25 cents per dollar when it took effect on April 1.
The half-cent sales tax is expected to generate an extra $5.2 million annually to pay for services such as police, fire, parks and the Lodi Public Library.
Had Measure L not passed, city officials projected expenditures would have begun to exceed revenues by the fiscal year 2019-20, and by the fiscal year 2023-24 the city could have faced a deficit of $6 million, which would have likely forced the city to either significantly reduces services or go bankrupt.
The measure was supported by city employee unions as well as the local business community. It was opposed by local taxpayer advocates, who argued that the measure was merely a temporary solution to a problem that they believe was caused by spiraling pension costs.
Deputy City Manager Andrew Keys, who was elected to serve as the staff liaison to the committee, explained that the committee’s purpose was to ensure that Measure L funds would not be used for anything other than their specified use.
Keys read the text of the measure to remind all present at the meeting of its intended use: “To make neighborhoods safer, maintain or improve essential City of Lodi services including: reducing crime; maintaining neighborhood police patrols, gang violence intervention and prevention; fixing potholes and city streets; maintaining neighborhood fire stations; enhancing rapid police and fire response times by restoring firefighter and adding police positions; maintaining recreation facilities and programs; and other general fund purposes.”
According to Keys, the main restriction on Measure L funds are that they cannot be used to fund pensions. However, they can be used to hire new city staff.
“Measure L has allowed us to hire 11 new positions that we would not have otherwise been able to without that increase in revenue,” Keys said.
The City of Lodi approved using Measure L funds to hire new public safety officers and purchase police and fire equipment at a city council meeting on Feb. 6.
City staff requested an appropriation of $548,200 in funds for the Lodi Police Department and $432,520 for the Lodi Fire Department — totaling $980,720 from Measure L funding — due to low staffing levels in both departments.
Six cadets joined the Delta College Police Academy on March 9 and are expected to graduate in September, when they will officially undergo nine months of field training with the Lodi Police Department before assuming their roles as full officers.
“The Fire Department will also hire three new firefighters and a battalion chief. Low staffing levels at the department has caused Engine 2031 to brown out, which means that the engine is not in use 65 percent of the time,” Keys said.
The city has utilized overtime pay as a cost-effective way to compensate for low staffing levels, Keys said, but that is a temporary fix.
“At the end of the day, overworked staff puts the public at risk and jeopardizes staff safety,” Keys said.
The city was also able to add a librarian position using Measure L funding.
The oversight committee will not be able to make fiscal recommendations to staff, Keys said. The committee is strictly there to monitor city expenditures.
Members will meet three times during each fiscal year to review the cities budget. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in January 2020.