All Measure T funds would remain local and be controlled by the City Council. By law, locally approved sales taxes cannot be taken away by the State. The City of Sonoma has taken many steps to increase financial transparency and accountability. These include multi-year financial forecasting and capital planning, improved cost-recovery for fee-based services, an … Continued
Most cities in Sonoma County have a local sales tax to support their general city services. The cities of Cotati and Petaluma have a full cent local sales tax, Sebastopol has a three-quarter cent sales tax and the cities of Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, and Sonoma have a half-cent local sales tax.
All of the revenue from the local sales tax is spent locally for the benefit of the Sonoma community. Measure T revenues will into the City’s General Fund, which provides basic city services including 911 emergency response, fire and ambulance services, police services, emergency preparedness, street and parks maintenance, planning and building services, housing programs, … Continued
The additional half-cent sales tax is projected to generate approximately $3 million annually.
Measure T was placed on the November 5, 2024, ballot by a unanimous vote of the Sonoma City Council to support existing and expanded City service levels and ensure financial stability and sustainability. Measure T was placed on the ballot to address Sonoma’s significant budget deficit and ensure the continuation and enhancement of essential city … Continued
Measure T is a proposed 0.5% increase in the local sales tax (officially called a “transactions and use tax”) for the City of Sonoma, placed on the November 2024 ballot. The measure is designed to generate approximately $3 million annually to support essential city services. If Measure T is passed, this tax would be applied … Continued
As a result of years of fiscal prudence, City has developed healthy financial reserves, which function as savings accounts or “rainy day” funds. The Emergency Reserve (target level = $1.5 million) helps fund the costs of responding to a major fire, earthquake, or pandemic. The purpose of the Operating Reserve (target level = amount equal … Continued
Keeping our community safe is the City’s highest priority. This includes local businesses and their employees. City staff assignments have shifted to prioritize public education and enforcement regarding Coronavirus related health orders, as well as community support projects such as the food security task force. The City Council allocated $150,000 from the City’s Housing Trust … Continued
With revenues down significantly, the adopted budget is balanced through a combination of spending reductions and use of financial reserves or “rainy day funds”. At $19.3M, the FY 20-21 adopted budget for General Fund expenditures is about $2M below the amount forecasted for “status quo operations”, and $1.1M below the pre-pandemic budget for FY 19-20. … Continued
With its tourism-based local economy, the City of Sonoma relies on revenues that are being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The most greatly affected are hotel taxes (called Transient Occupancy Tax or TOT), which had previously been generating almost 24% of total General Fund revenues. Prior to the pandemic, annual TOT revenues were on … Continued
