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

Brianna Vaccari

The Merced FOCUS

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

Official estimates suggest the tax would generate $25 million annually.

The decision was made against the backdrop of a $6.6 million budget deficit and a number of financial problems, some of which led to staff shortages in the public safety sector.

Sheriff Vern Warnke complained to the board several times earlier this year about the lack of deputies in his department. Some of them took jobs in neighboring counties where they received better pay and better benefits. The department has 25 percent fewer operational staff, including many patrol officers, he said.

To stop the department’s massive cuts, the board of directors granted deputy sheriffs a 10 percent pay raise. Warnke said Tuesday that this was starting to make a difference, but more help was needed.

“The citizens of this district absolutely deserve the best we can offer them,” Warnke said during the board meeting.

But the sheriff’s office is not the only county agency under financial pressure.

Back in May, supervisors decided to close two fire stations and consolidate others. Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira also said recruiting and retaining attorneys in her office is a problem as experienced prosecutors move to other counties.

Merced city voters in March approved an extension of Measure C, a similar half-cent public safety tax to support police and fire departments.

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Investing in the future of public safety

Warnke said his department will use the money to increase staffing levels on patrol as well as among officers working in the jail and courts.

Silveira said she plans to use the money to hire additional prosecutors, but also hopes to use it to fund staff for the victim witness program, which is currently funded largely by grants.

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

“I hate having to answer the phone and we don’t have anyone to send,” Warnke told the board. “So I’m hoping that this thing gets done today and that we can definitely move forward and give our citizens in this county a chance to voice their opinion on this.”

Mark Pimentel, deputy chief of the Cal Fire/Merced County Fire Department, said the tax is a long-term solution to maintain the level of service that county residents are accustomed to.

The Supervisory Board approved the nomination proposal just three days before the deadline for submitting the election text to the electoral register.

County officials expressed hope that a citizens’ committee would propose such action, as residents were very engaged on the issues of staffing sheriff’s deputies and closing fire stations.

But since that never happened, county officials, including the sheriff and district attorney, have been desperately trying to get something to present to the committee over the past month or so.

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Cities would also benefit

Revenue from the tax would be split so that 80% would go to the county’s public safety services and 20% would go to a city and town program.

The county’s six incorporated cities would receive grants based on population, but no agency would receive less than $250,000.

The sheriff’s office would receive 52% of the county’s allotment, the Merced County Fire Department 33% and the district attorney’s office 15%.

The percentages of tax revenue allocated to the district attorney, sheriff, fire department and cities under the spending plan cannot be changed 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 thanked the county’s public safety officials for their quick action in preparing for the voting process.

County Supervisors Daron McDaniel and Josh Pedrozo said public support is imperative.

Warnke’s comments to superiors were noticeably friendlier than earlier in the year, when he asked for help at board meetings and expressed frustration at continually losing deputies and corrections officers.

“I cannot express enough gratitude to this board for allowing us to move forward as we do,” he said. “…The support this board gives us is a blessing.”

About the author

Brianna Vaccari is an accountability and government oversight reporter at the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.