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Benicia CA, Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Benicia's Budget Crisis, Local elections

Mayor Steve Young: Join the Conversations on Benicia’s Real Property Transfer Tax Proposal

Benicia Mayor Steve Young. | City of Benicia.

By Benicia Mayor Steve Young, June 9, 2024

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, June 11th, the City Council will hold the first of a series of public hearings on a specific tax proposal that, if passed, would increase taxes solely on the sale of real estate.

These public hearings will focus on the proposed structure of a proposed Real Property Transfer Tax ( RPTT), targeting only residential and commercial properties when they are sold, with the potential for the issue to be decided by our voters on the November ballot.

No one likes taxes.

And it is challenging to ask voters to approve new ones, even when applied to a limited number of people. But the City’s financial situation, while improving, is not yet stable.

The overwhelming approval by Benicia voters of Measures A and B provided critical funding to maintain service levels for most City programs. But it will not provide enough to address our remaining financial challenges.

We still have a shortfall of tens of millions of dollars to address our need to upgrade deteriorated city facilities, improve our parks, and continue to maintain top quality employees.

The City Manager has been quite transparent in discussing his plan to develop enough sustainable revenue to carry Benicia forward into the future and address our many unfunded needs. At the same time, he will shortly announce even more internal, significant, cost-savings brought about by restructuring of departments and reduction in personnel.

A Real Property Transfer Tax already exists. Solano County taxes all Benicia property at $1.10 per $1000 of sales price (0.11%).  We are asking voters to allow it to be raised in a way that is similar to other neighboring communities. It is paid by either the buyer or seller (or negotiated) in real estate transactions, and is paid as part of closing costs.

Historically, there are between 200-250 property sales per year in Benicia. Unless and until you plan to sell a property here, you would be unaffected.

We should also look to the possible future housing growth in the city.  If we do see new home construction, we will have in place a taxing tool to collect our fair share of the sales transaction.

Only charter cities are allowed to increase this tax (if approved by voters), so a companion measure is required that authorizes a limited Charter, restricted only to this use.

Related issues that will be discussed by the Council, and for which public comment is desired, include the following:

    • Should there be a flat tax where all property sales be taxed at the same rate?  Or should the rate be progressively higher as the sales amount increases?
    • What rates are appropriate in each case?
    • Should property sales under $500,000 (for example) be exempt?
    • Should transfers among immediate family members be exempt?
    • How will commercial property sales (which do not happen often) be managed—variable or flat rate?

Other anticipated exemptions involve circumstances such as sales due to a divorce, non-profit ownership, sales by government entities, and corporate re-organizations under bankruptcy laws

Again, your input is desired, either by attending any of the meetings (in person or virtually) listed at the end of the staff report, or by submitting written comments to the city clerk at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us.

Save these dates

Below is the City of Benicia’s projected timeline for next steps to place the limited charter and RPTT on the ballot for the November 2024 election:

  • Tuesday, June 11, at 5:30pm (tomorrow): Special City Council Meeting – Limited Charter Public Hearing #1; Direction on RPTT Rate Models and Exemptions*
  • Sunday, June 23: Notice of Public Hearing #2 (by publishing in Benicia Herald Sunday Edition and posting at three public places within the City)
  • Tuesday, July 16: Limited Charter Public Hearing #2 – City Council Meeting
  • Tuesday, August 6: Last day for City Clerk to submit resolutions to Registrar of Voters to place a measure on November 5, 2024 Ballot

For more information about attending these meetings, either virtually or in-person, view the City of Benicia’s Tuesday, June 11 Full Agenda Packet.

*The City has a closed session starting at 4:30pm. The public portion of this meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30pm, but may start as late as 6pm.

California Forever Inc., East Solano Plan, Flannery Associates, Solano County CA, Solano Land Trust, Solano Together

Sustainable Solano: California Forever does not align with our values

Sustainable Solano’s Position on California Forever

From Sustainable Solano blog, May 29, 2024

Sustainable Solano has remained publicly silent until now about California Forever, both as a proposal and a ballot item. But we have spent that time in active discussions as a team and board to weigh the California Forever proposal and the process taken to get it to this point and test it for alignment with Sustainable Solano’s mission and objective to nurture initiatives for the good of the whole. We work to help bring our communities together in a way that connects people with each other, the Earth and something larger than themselves, and we must base our responses upon those values.

We have determined the motives behind California Forever do not align with our values as an organization, even if some parts of the proposed community do reflect measures we would like to see for Solano County’s existing cities.

Sustainable Solano’s work around community resilience, sustainable landscapes and local food all starts at a singular nexus — the interest in giving a voice to the community and building community trust toward the good of the whole. We can say without a doubt that the approach taken to acquire property and establish California Forever does not align with that core value for our organization. Solano County residents are frustrated due to the lack of transparency and absence of trust around the intentions of those behind California Forever. As an organization that is exploring what it means for us to democratically govern ourselves in an open manner, we ask no less of those who are seeking to change the county where we ground our work.

Even in the structure of its proposed community, California Forever does not align with our values. The decision for this community to remain unincorporated will result in residents being denied a locally elected municipal government. The new city will not have a mayor or city council, with many governmental functions relegated to nonprofits established by California Forever, or to the County Board of Supervisors. Consequently, the voices of residents may go unheard, and their ability to participate meaningfully in shaping the future of their community can be hindered. Without a local government, residents are often deprived of the essential mechanisms for representation, decision-making, and resource allocation that are fundamental to democratic governance. Issues such as environmental protection, infrastructure development, and public services become challenging to address without a locally elected centralized authority to coordinate efforts and advocate for community needs.

In the absence of a community-elected municipal government, this unincorporated city may face significant obstacles in achieving the democratic ideals of equitable representation and collective decision-making.

There are other areas where California Forever does not properly align with Sustainable Solano’s mission and values. We promote sustainable land use and the protection of ag land, which this proposal would directly affect as well as removing range land and endangering critically important habitat. We work with communities to lift up residents’ voices around environmental degradation and injustice, and see where creation of a large new city in the county would increase the negative effects on surrounding communities commensurate with increased traffic and strains on water supplies.

California Forever paints a picture of a community that would be built for walkability with good jobs and affordable housing. We appreciate and understand the vital importance of these features of a sustainable city, and would like to see more in our existing cities — cities where people could easily walk, bike or take local transit to jobs that pay a livable wage, have access to grocery stores with healthy seasonal food, can gather in public spaces with urban greening, and use renewable, local energy. We would like to encourage building this vision within our existing cities, and invite you to think about how such changes could be brought to where you live. These strategies would strengthen Solano County and our local communities, but for California Forever they remain only ideas at this point, and there are far too many conflicts with our values for us to support the California Forever proposal as a whole.

 

MORE . . .

>> Get involved… Solano Together is another local organization opposing California Forever. Between now and November, you can get a yard sign from Solano Together and send Solano Together a much needed donation.

>> Read more… BenIndy coverage of the billionaire land grab, California Forever / East Solano Plan.

California Forever Inc., East Solano Plan, Flannery Associates, Solano County CA, Solano Land Trust, Solano Together

Solano Land Trust: We urge you to join us in voting no on the ballot measure in November

June 6, 2024 – In an email today, Solano Land Trust’s Nicole Braddock announced that the Land Trust Board of Directors voted to formally oppose the East Solano Plan, also known as California Forever. The Board urges Solano residents to vote no. Here’s the email:

Dear . . .

Nicole Braddock, Executive Director, Solano Land Trust

Solano Land Trust has also been following developments around the East Solano Plan, also know as California Forever, closely as more information about the details, scope, and size of the project have been made available. We understand our community’s need for housing and jobs and are committed to working with county partners to support inclusive solutions that maintain a healthy, natural environment including clean air, clean water, and open spaces. But a project of this magnitude is not the way to achieve this goal, and runs counter to Solano Land Trust’s mission of protecting and preserving open space for current and future generations.

The Solano Land Trust Board of Directors has voted to take a position and formally oppose the November ballot measure that would allow for the development of the East Solano Plan, also known as California Forever. A development of this magnitude will have a detrimental impact on Solano County water resources, air quality, traffic, farmland, and natural environment, and the associated pollution will be harmful to both our community and environmental health.

The area proposed for development is not a wasteland or landscape of no value. In fact, it is home to self-reliant farmland and ranchland where farmers and ranchers have grown local food for centuries. Most of these lands rely on very little, if any, irrigation, making them some of the most water-efficient farmland in the state. Also, this area is comprised of sensitive habitat and home to rare and endangered plants and animals in the region.

We urge you to join us in voting no on the ballot measure in November and protect these vital open lands.

You can see the full statement here: Solano Land Trust Press Release.

Together, we can protect our open land for today and save it for tomorrow. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Solano Land Trust.

Sincerely,

Nicole Braddock
Executive Director
solanolandtrust.org

MORE . . .

>> Get involved… Solano Together is another local organization opposing California Forever. Between now and November, you can get a yard sign from Solano Together and send Solano Together a much needed donation.

>> Read more… BenIndy coverage of the billionaire land grab, California Forever / East Solano Plan.

California Forever Inc., Flannery Associates, Solano County CA, Solano County Orderly Growth Committee, Solano County Registrar of Voters, Solano Together, Travis Air Force Base

California Forever dangles “sports complex” deal-sweetener over voters’ heads

OK to reuse image.

By BenIndy, June 5, 2024

A text from BenIndy’s editor emeritus today read:

“Big news today. Cal Fever plans to build a facility to please every conceivable sports enthusiast. Next, an apple pie factory and the world’s biggest American flag. And something honoring every Solano mom…”

Later, also from BenIndy’s trustworthy editor emeritus:

“Also in the news: Cal Forever execs plan to give a car to every teenager and a guaranteed anti-aging syrup to every senior. Oh, and I heard they are planning to travel the county giving kisses to every baby. I believe ’em, don’t you?”

Yes, the billionaires behind “California Forever” are at it again, announcing yesterday the creation of yet another vague and legally tenuous “incentive” to boost the company’s increasingly desperate efforts to drive supporters to the polls in November.

This time, the company is dangling a juicy new sports center over our heads, hoping we’ll jump for our treat.

Solano could certainly use new sports facilities for youth and adults, although it’s presently unclear how building a single, massive superstructure could reasonably serve the county without adding massive infrastructural and logistical nightmares to what is already a rough situation for families. (Sidenote: Maybe this is a stupid question, but wouldn’t it make more sense to have several smaller facilities spread across several underserved areas, to reduce congestion and serve those communities more equitably through improved access, instead of having one massive megaplex with certainly choked ingress and egress points? Couldn’t those smaller facilities serve as a sort of gravitational pull for those undeserved communities, to prompt deeper neighborhood ties and increased community investments, across generations?)

To its many opponents, this most recent in a series of similar announcements confirmed that California Forever’s communications and marketing teams are locked in a repeating pattern of three steps:

  1. Identify (or invent) a community need or problem;
  2. When confronted with community distrust or opposition, invent a committee and stack it with sympathetic locals who may (or may not) have some relevant experience and interest in addressing that problem, to task them to devise the “solution,” all while paying third-party firms and consultants to do the actual work (sometimes out of state);
  3. Declare that California Forever has – through its largesse, beneficence, and access to such firms and consultants – co-developed a community-driven solution, but will fund this solution only once the ballot initiative has passed.

And repeat, and repeat, and repeat…until all that wild shooting in the dark finally takes the target(s) down.

Be wary

Before the full text of the ballot initiative was available in early 2024, California Forever execs begged Solano residents to wait for that full text with an open mind. But those of us who did so remain confused or frustrated.

Now, California Forever is begging Solano residents to simply trust it, and to wait for the ballot measure to pass, whereupon our trust will be rewarded with the full, unconditional delivery of all of our promised incentives, like candy falls freely from a busted piñata.

Except instead of candy, or sports centers, this is actually a discussion about peoples’ lives, and about the material and spiritual future of Solano County. And Solano voters should be very wary.

There is a real and urgent need for affordable housing for Californians yesterday. But this most recent in California Forever’s parade of vague incentives comes with its usual set of weak guardrails and shows us that the company continues to be much more invested in winning at the ballot than than addressing real issues like the business of creating and maintaining positive housing, health, and educational outcomes for present and future Solano residents.