The Benicia Chamber of Commerce and the Benicia High School Debate team are hosting a Mayoral and City Council Forum on October 2nd at 6pm.
This free event will be held at the Benicia High School in the Performing Arts building.
Our amazing Benicia Debate team students will be moderating and will be accepting written questions during the event. We may not have time to get to the questions from the audience. If that happens we will pass the questions on to the candidates.
The Benicia Debate Team will be accepting cash donations to help their team pay for competitions if you would like to help.
For those streaming online, please reach out to Benicia High School to find out how to donate.
Note from BenIndy: We’ll post a “WATCH LIVE” notice when the livestream starts. You can also navigate to the Facebook Event Page at 6pm and click the “Watch live video” button. The button will be active and usable once the livestream starts, and you will be able to tell that it is active because the text will no longer be grayed out.
From the Campaign to Re-Elect Mayor Steve Young, received September 5, 2024
Benicia Mayor Steve Young
First let me say I am actively running for reelection as the Mayor of Benicia.
I firmly believe that an effective Mayor’s role is to inform and educate the community, guiding us towards a shared vision of the future.
The three Measures on the November’s ballot are crucial for our progress and future. Because they are so important, I am dedicating my reelection campaign to advocating for their passage.
It’s important to note that the Solano County Association of Realtors, all of Public Safety Unions , (Police, Fire and Dispatch), the Napa-Solano Labor Council and the Solano County Democratic Central Committee have all endorsed passage of each of the three measures.
The City of Benicia faces complex financial challenges. Our primary revenue sources are property taxes (from which we receive only 26 cents per dollar) and sales tax.
Unfortunately, sales tax revenue has remained flat due to our limited retail base. While property values have surged, property tax revenue hasn’t kept pace because new assessments only occur upon sales.
With minimal new construction and limited home sales (likely because residents enjoy living here), property tax growth has been constrained.
A significant factor in our slow property tax revenue growth is that 42% % of Benicia properties haven’t changed hands since the 1990’s. These homes are taxed based on 1978-1990’s property tax values.
Consequently, these properties pay much lower taxes compared to neighbors who bought more recently.
This situation forces the City to cover 2024 expenses with much of our revenue based on property tax assessments prior to 2000—which is unsustainable.
Measure F
This measure, brought to the ballot by a Citizen’s initiative with 2,000 signatures, proposes a 1/2 cent sales tax increase dedicated SOLELY to road repairs. It is expected to generate $4-4.5 million annually. Combined with gas tax and some General Fund money, this will enable the City to repair all streets over a 15-year period.
Measures G and H
These measures are interconnected. Measure G would convert Benicia to a “limited” charter city, allowing us to impose real estate transfer taxes. This change is restricted by the language in Measure G to only affect Real Property Transfers—nothing else- and can only be modified by the voters.
Measure H
This measure proposes a Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) of 0.4% (or $4 per $1,000) for sales under $2 million.
Sales over $2 million would be taxed at 0.6%, and properties over $10 million at 0.8%. This tax applies only to real estate sales, not affecting renters or those passing properties to heirs, even if the heirs rent them out.
Both measures G and H must pass for the RPTT to be implemented.
Let’s look at an example of how this would affect the average home sale in Benicia: the RPTT on a $850,000 home would be $3,400.
For many long-time Benicia homeowners, this amount would be a very small percentage of the accumulated increase in equity. And that equity increased, in large part, to the improvements the City (and its taxpayers) have made over the decades.
In conclusion, this additional funding from Measure F would solely support fixing our deteriorating roads. Measure G and H will be used to repair many old and deteriorating City facilities including City Hall, the Police Department, the Clocktower, the SP Depot, the Marina, the Senior Center, the pool, the library, the gym, and the Camel Barns.
We cannot achieve fiscal sustainability through staff cuts alone. Slashing the city payroll would necessitate closing many programs that Benicians have repeatedly expressed they want, expect, and deserve.
I am calling on my fellow Benicians to continue the progress the City has made to get its financial house in order and agree that we need to look at new revenue sources that will help Benicia continue towards a solid fiscal future.
Please join me, the Benicia City Council and many community groups and vote yes on Measures F, G and H in November.
From the Campaign to Re-Elect Mayor Steve Young, received July 10, 2024
Benicia, CA – Mayor Steve Young today announced his campaign for re-election with a pledge to continue the work he started in his first term. “This is a critical election,” Young said. “We are not just deciding on a city leader for the next four years; we are at a crucial juncture that will define the future of Benicia.”
Young, who was elected to his first term as mayor in 2020, has led the City through some of its toughest times. He led the City Council and City government staff in crafting a strong and responsible response to the global pandemic. He has worked to build a solid financial foundation for Benicia, overseeing the rezoning of land to encourage more housing while promoting the City’s vibrant downtown, art community and business park. He also championed the simplification of City processes to make it easier for residents and business to access City services, including by limiting the scope of the Housing Preservation Review Commission.
“I have made transparency and communication the core mission of my service to Benicia residents,” Mayor Young said. “I am the first Mayor to regularly monitor, engage and communicate with constituents on social media, and I consistently respond to direct and public questions.”
“But the job is not done,” Young continued. “More challenges remain as we continue to shape the vision of Benicia’s identity, aspiring to create a community that embodies resilience, prosperity and a balance between smart progress, historic preservation and continued sustainability.”
Great seeing Benicia Mayor Steve Young and City Manager Mario Giuliani at the Capitol advocating for #AB3259 yesterday. This bill could empower Solano County cities to tailor local tax policies, boosting infrastructure and services through voter approval. #CALeg#AD11pic.twitter.com/jqKXHgc4s8
— Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson (@AsmLoriDWilson) April 18, 2024
Young was raised in Burbank, California, where he graduated from Burbank High School in 1969. He earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley in 1973 and went on to earn his MA in Urban Policy and Administration from San Francisco State University in 1975.
He spent his entire career focusing on the challenges cities face. For 28 years, he worked with cities in California and Virginia, overseeing various projects in the fields of community development, re-development, affordable housing, neighborhood preservation and economic development. In 1999, he was named Community Development Directorof the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA).
After retiring from SHRA, Young and his wife Marty moved to Costa Rico for four years to allow their daughter to have the experience of attending high school internationally. Following her graduation, the family returned to the US and moved to Benicia in 2012 where he quickly put his career experience to use.
Click the image to be redirected to the 2022 LA Times column featuring Mayor Steve Young.
He was appointed to Benicia’s Planning Commission in 2013, just as the Crude by Rail proposal began working its way through the City approval process. With his expertise, he was able to guide the Commission through the complicated process that helped lead to the Planning Commission’s unanimous rejection of a project that could have put Benicia residents’ safety and health at risk. The Planning Commission decision was ultimately upheld by the City Council.
Young was elected to the Benicia City Council in November 2016 in his first attempt at elected office. He was elected Mayor in November of 2020.
“I love our City, its beauty, strong culture of arts and history, its friendly small town sense of community,” he said. “But to continue to survive, we must grow, and to grow successfully while keeping what makes Benicia special is the challenge before us all. I am asking Benicians to re-elect me so I can continue the work that we’ve started in shaping Benicia’s future.”
To learn more about Mayor Young’s re-election campaign, donate, or volunteer, visit his website at www.reelectyoungforbenicia.com.
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
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