The Carpinteria City Council on Tuesday reviewed a public outreach program for a proposed 0.25% sales tax increase and offered feedback on the draft ballot language.

The council still will have to vote in June on the final ballot language and whether to put the sales tax measure on the November ballot.

The council in April directed staff to explore placing a sales tax measure on the fall ballot, citing rising day-to-day costs and dwindling discretionary funds.

The city has a growing backlog of $14.8 million in infrastructure and deferred maintenance needs and $133.6 million in unfunded capital improvement projects.

If approved, the sales measure would bring in approximately $700,000 annually. City staff warned that the measure wouldn’t be a fix-all solution, but it would help the city amid its budget crisis.

The city currently has a total sales tax rate of 9%. The measure would bump that up to 9.25%. Certain items, such as most groceries and prescription medications, would be exempt under state law, staff explained.

The draft ballot language presented Tuesday calls the sales tax measure a “public safety, roads, city services measure.”

Broadly, it would help the city repair streets and sidewalks, prepare for disasters and other emergencies, keep public areas clean and pay for police services, among other items. It also would allow for “general government purposes,” which would give the city the ability to use the funds for purposes not explicitly stated.

The full draft ballot language can be seen here.

The council on Tuesday questioned not making the language more specific, so citizens might be more in favor of voting for something they can rally behind.

“Why not be more specific about our language on this tax and say, ‘This is a public safety tax?'” Councilwoman Julia Mayer asked, citing the rising cost of police services.

Carpinteria — like other nearby cities that don’t have their own police departments, such as Goleta — contracts with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services.

For Carpinteria, that contract’s cost has jumped during the past several years. It was $3.9 million in 2019, it will be $6.9 million starting in July and $7.2 million starting in fiscal year 2027.

Staff and city legal counsel said it is more difficult to get a special tax passed, which requires more than 66% approval.

Making the language more general also allows the city to be able to use those funds for flexibility as other issues or community needs arise, they added.

The city last put a sales tax rate increase on the ballot in 2018 and voters approved Measure X, a 1.25% rate increase.

Community members, including several members of the Friends of the Carpinteria Library, spoke about the history of Measure X and the rallying campaign behind it on Tuesday.

Gail Marshall said Carpinteria has rejected big-box stores and car lots to protect its small-town legacy, but “we must accept the fact that there are trade-offs.”

“The trade-off is to rely solely on sales tax, TOT, property tax and making sure we charge fairly for the various permits that are labor intense. … Everything’s a trade-off. I choose small-town character,” she said, urging the community to “support this next very small increase in sales tax.”