Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson was persuasive when he appeared last week before the Elk Grove City Council about his proposed tax measure to fight youth and gang violence.
"I don't need to tell any of you about the scourge of gang violence that has arisen in Sacramento County," Dickinson said. "It has been building for a significant amount of time."
Sixty-five gangs and more than 6,000 validated gang members are operating in the county, he said.
By the end of the July 9 meeting, however, Dickinson was confronted by one more council in the region worried about how the proposal for a quarter-cent sales tax hike would play out.
Therefore, for the sake of the need to fight gangs, he told The Bee on Monday, he's rewriting the proposal that's headed to county supervisors on July 22.
As proposed, the measure would boost sales taxes for 30 years by 0.25 percent – to 8 percent from today's 7.75 percent.
It would generate about $50 million the first year.
But the original plan also was designed to give half of the funds generated within each jurisdiction to a countywide commission that would disburse funds to community groups and nonprofits for youth and anti-gang programs.
Cities would keep the other half of their tax proceeds and decide how best to wage their own similar efforts.
"I think in listening to the council members in particular from around the county, and the city managers, this issue was of preeminent concern to them," Dickinson said in an interview.
Instead of a 50-50 split, he said, the proposal submitted to county supervisors next week will return 100 percent of the funds to the jurisdictions where the money is generated.
The rewrite also will eliminate the proposed 14-member commission.
Dickinson said he and other backers believed the original plan would have given area cities a reasonable amount of money while allowing countywide efforts.
"But since their concerns have been so pronounced, we concluded that (returning all the proceeds) was an acceptable modification to make in the interest of trying to accomplish the greater goal, which is to generate resources to fight youth and gang violence," he said.
Dickinson's aim, he said, was that the measure not be altered so much that it fails to achieve a blend of law enforcement with community-based prevention and intervention.
If county supervisors place the measure on the November ballot, it will require a two-thirds vote to take effect.
Before the redraft, Dickinson had encountered serious opposition from Galt and Citrus Heights.
Galt's City Council on July 1 authorized Mayor Andrew Meredith to send a letter of formal opposition to the county Board of Supervisors, City Manager Jason Behrmann said.
Last Thursday, the Citrus Heights City Council voted its unanimous opposition.
On Wednesday, several Elk Grove council members asked for revisions but did not oppose the concept.
Mayor Gary Davis was supportive.
"It sounds like politically there is going to be strong interest in changing it to (give the tax money) back to the point of origin," Davis said at the meeting.
Whatever the final formula, "It's critical that we work closely with the school district and the community groups that are out there focused on prevention," he said.
Councilman Jim Cooper, a captain in the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department with long experience in anti-gang work, said kids need "job skills … hope and opportunity."
But he was not optimistic about the success of a sales tax increase.
"People won't even pass a bond measure to build a new school," he said. "You are going to have a hell of a time getting this to be passed.
"But is it needed? Absolutely."
Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 478-2641.
