Sacramento's anti-gang sales tax faces uphill battle

Supervisor Roger Dickinson and a coalition of religious leaders believe Sacramento County has a $1.5 billion gang problem.

That's why they want everybody in the county to cough up an average of about $36 a year in additional sales taxes over the next 30 years to create a huge pot of money to attack the problem.

But they face an uphill battle.

• First, Dickinson has to get a majority of the five-member Board of Supervisors to agree to put a gang tax measure on the general election ballot. The board's vote is next Tuesday.

• Then, should the measure to increase the county sales tax from 7 3/4 percent to 8 percent make it on the ballot, supporters must win two-thirds voter approval on Nov. 4.

Dickinson will have to make a compelling case that gang problems are such a threat to public safety that residents should agree to create a dedicated anti-gang fund of unparalleled size within the state.

Los Angeles, which no one disputes has a bigger gang problem, spends $26 million annually toward keeping kids out of gangs and keeping a lid on active members. It spends another $56 million for police to suppress street gang activities.

Most of Los Angeles' money comes from the city's general fund – not a dedicated fund. Sacramento County's gang tax would amount to $50 million a year, on top of what local law enforcement is already spending.

The money would be spent on a three-pronged approach: trying to prevent kids from joining gangs, intervening with young gang members to get GED degrees and vocational job training, and paying for more police to suppress criminal gang activities and reduce violence.

"The bottom line continues to be, this problem isn't going away," Dickinson said. "We can either do something about it, or let it become worse and worse."

A Texas two-step

His revenue-raising plan is similar to one that voters approved in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1995, and extended in 2000 and 2005. That plan raised the sales tax a half-cent and now generates $51 million a year to combat gangs.

Gang experts there say the city is safer as a result – and that while it initially cracked down on gangs, prevention programs are finally getting more money.

They hope that approach will lead to long-term improvement.

"Enforcement by itself won't do it," said Robert Nash Parker, a sociologist at the University of California, Riverside. "You need to offer these kids an alternative to what they see growing up in some neighborhoods."

Ken Shetter, who runs some Fort Worth programs, said the sales tax money pays for after-school programs and helicopters.

Fort Worth measures success, Shetter said, by improving the lives of young people and decreasing the amount of violence.

"If you want to be effective, you have to devote resources to intervention and prevention," he said. "No one should labor under the theory that once a kid is in a gang, you can get him out."

In the Sacramento plan unveiled by Dickinson and Area Congregations Together, the anti-gang money would pay for increased job opportunities for at-risk youth and put more officers on the street.

Although recent polls have found crime topping the list of residents' concerns, the response to his proposal has been mixed – particularly from the county's suburban cities.

Economy's an issue

With the economy sputtering, municipal officials said, residents would be pushed to buy big ticket items across the county border where sales taxes are lower.

Others asked why they should pay to fight gang problems that aren't a crisis in their cities.

Last Thursday, the Citrus Heights City Council voted to oppose the tax increase. Leaders in Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove also had reservations.

Their initial reluctance prompted Dickinson on Monday to modify his proposal.

Initially, he proposed creating a countywide board that would draft a blueprint for spending half the money. The remainder would go directly to the cities.

Dickinson said he is redrafting the proposal to ensure that each jurisdiction in Sacramento County receives 100 percent of the sales tax revenues generated within its borders.

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• Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.