Merced County voters in November will decide whether to pass a half-cent sales tax to support the county’s sheriff and district attorney offices along with fire protection.

Brianna Vaccari

The Merced FOCUS

The Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously agreed to put the sales tax on the ballot. It would require two-thirds approval to pass, be in effect for 30 years, and have a number of financial accountability requirements.

Officials estimate the tax would generate $25 million annually.

The decision comes amid a $6.6 million budget shortfall and a number of financial woes, some of which resulted in public safety staffing shortages.

Sheriff Vern Warnke earlier this year complained to the board on multiple occasions about his department’s shortage of deputies, some of whom took jobs in neighboring counties with higher salaries and better benefits. The department is down 25% in operational staff, much of which includes patrol deputies, he said.

The Board of Supervisors gave sheriff’s deputies a 10% raise to help stop the department’s hemorrhaging, and Warnke said Tuesday that’s slowly beginning to make a difference, but more help is needed.

“The citizens of this county deserve absolutely the best that we can provide,” Warnke said during the board meeting.

But the Sheriff’s Office isn’t the only county department under financial pressure.

Back in May, supervisors decided to close two fire stations and merge others. Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira also said recruitment and retention of attorneys is an issue in her office, with experienced prosecutors leaving for other counties.

Voters in the city of Merced in March approved an extension of Measure C, a similar public safety half-cent sales tax supporting police and fire.

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Investing in the Future of Public Safety

Warnke said his department will use the money to restore staffing levels on patrol as well as for officers who work in the jail and the courts.

While Silveira said she plans to use the money to hire additional prosecutors, she also hopes to use it to fund staff in the victim’s witness program, which now operates mostly on grant funding.

Warnke said the ballot measure is a tool and “necessary endeavor” to provide adequate services.

“I hate the idea of answering the phone, and we don’t have anybody to send,” Warnke told the board. “So I’m hoping that this thing is taken care of today, and that we can definitely move forward and allow our citizens in this county to make their voice heard about it.”

Mark Pimentel, Cal Fire/Merced County Fire Department assistant chief, said the tax would be a long-term solution to maintain the level of service county residents are used to.

The Board of Supervisors approved the ballot measure just three days before the deadline to submit the ballot language to the Registrar of Voters.

County officials mentioned they hoped a citizen’s committee would bring forward a measure since residents were highly engaged on the issues of deputy staffing and the fire station closures.

But because that never materialized, county officials, including the sheriff and district attorney, scrambled over the last month or so to bring something to the board.

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Cities Would Also Benefit

The revenue generated by the tax would be split up so that 80% would be used for county public safety services and 20% would be used for a city and towns program.

The county’s six incorporated cities would receive grants determined by population, but no agency would receive under $250,000.

The Sheriff’s Office would receive 52% of the county’s allocation, Merced County Fire Department would receive 33% and the District Attorney’s Office would receive 15%.

Percentages of the tax proceeds allocated to the district attorney, the sheriff, fire and to the cities within the expenditure plan may not be modified or reduced. An oversight committee would recommend spending priorities to the Board of Supervisors, and any deviation from the recommendations would require a public hearing.

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The supervisors expressed their appreciation to the county’s public safety leaders for moving quickly to get the ballot measure prepared.

County Supervisors Daron McDaniel and Josh Pedrozo said it’s imperative for the public to support it.

Warnke’s remarks to the supervisors were noticeably friendlier than earlier in the year when he spoke at the board meetings, pleading for help and expressing frustration over constantly losing deputies and correctional officers.

“I can’t express gratitude enough for this board allowing us to move forward like we’re doing,” he said. “…The support coming from this board has been a blessing.”

About the Author

Brianna Vaccari is the accountability and government watchdog reporter for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.