OPINION: Why I Am Voting Against Measure Y
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The Budget Advisory Committee determined that Piedmont’s unfunded benefits liability is about $40 million, or $10,000 for every family in town. And more money has been wasted on excess benefits and badly managed construction project overruns combined than has been raised by the parcel tax in its current term.
Yet Piedmont’s budget continues to hemorrhage red ink, threatening our great public services. The Council has instead put two tax measures on the ballot this year, without the budget reforms that MTRC unanimously said were essential. This recognizes only half the story. They want to use the parcel tax to bail out bad decisions, instead of fixing the mistakes.
Thus the Council lost my support for Measure Y. I’ve concluded that the parcel tax is just a short-term tactic enabling the city to avoid hard and necessary decisions. So the only course I see is to vote it down, depriving the Council of its bailout fund. This will force them to confront the worsening problems that have been staring them in the face — unresolved – since 2004.
Supporters of the tax argue that Measure Y’s failure will lead to awful budget cuts, but that is simply a scare tactic. Because as I said, the tax has not been going to services for residents, but instead has mainly gone to excessive benefit costs and construction project overruns. This waste, not the failure of Measure Y, is what will put our essential services at risk.
Thus, I have no doubt that primary programs like the 3-minute ambulance response time are not at risk today. I say this as a 16-year resident, every member of whose family has unfortunately tested the ambulance service. As Council member Garrett Keating said recently, “There has been no projection from the city that failure to renew Measure Y will lead to reductions in public safety services.”
To conclude, I strongly urge a No vote on Measure Y, telling the Council that it is time to deal with the problems that its advisory committees have identified.
Michael Rancer, Chair, 2011 Municipal Tax Review Committee
Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association. The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates or ballot measures.
Unfortunately the same problem of running away compensations and benefits exists at the State level, in part due to Governor Brown who in his first term as governor decades ago pushed and signed into law collective bargaining rights for all State Employees.