Santa Barbara voters will decide in November whether to increase the sales tax by a half-cent, the City Council decided Tuesday.

The council members, however, disagreed over whether housing or public safety should be listed as the No. 1 priority, and raised questions about whether a sales tax increase would be regressive and hurt the poorest people in the community the most.

The ballot language approved by the council on Tuesday states:

“Shall the measure maintaining 911 emergency/fire/paramedic/police response, keeping neighborhood fire stations open; improving housing affordability; addressing homelessness; keeping public areas/parks safe, clean; protecting local drinking water, stormwater protection; improving natural disaster preparedness; retaining local businesses/jobs, and for general government use; by establishing a 1⁄2¢ sales tax providing approximately $15,600,000 annually until ended by voters; requiring audits, public spending disclosure, all funds used locally, be adopted?”

Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said she fundamentally disagrees with taxing the people who can least afford it, and then telling them that money will help them with their housing situation.

“Yes, sales tax is regressive, of course, super high rents are regressive, but the idea that by increasing this sales tax we are going to have a generally realized impact on the high rents in the city of Santa Barbara is just simply not true,” Harmon said.

She said that charging residents a half-cent more to 9.25% won’t necessarily lead to affordable housing because it’s not listed as No. 1, and it is competing with all the other priorities. Harmon said she would rather see an increase in the transient occupancy tax or the creation of a commercial vacancy tax before taxing people through a sales tax increase.

“To make that claim in such a direct way means kind of setting ourselves up for real disappointment from our residents about what this tax increase is going to do for them,” Harmon said. “That’s a major concern I have, that people are going to feel misled.”

Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon unsuccessfully pushed her colleagues to rewrite the language so that housing would come first. She believes the measure, which needs 50.1% to pass, has a better chance at approval if housing is listed as the top priority.

“Both times I have run for office, knocking on doors, affluent, high-propensity voters, members of the community, and both times their No. 1 issue was affordable housing, and even if they were standing in a multimillion-dollar doorway, they were concerned about the workforce, the teachers, the nurses, the first responders, they are worried about their children, their grandchildren,” Sneddon said. “I really believe that the heart and will is there in this community to care for housing as a top list billing on this ballot language.”

The consultant hired by the city, however, said that according to a survey it did, public safety was the most important to likely voters. The proposed ballot language was proposed by former City Administrator Rebecca Bjork, who has since retired.

The city surveyed 542 “likely voters” from April 30 to May 5.

According to the survey results, 59% of the 542 voters would support a sales tax increase.

The survey, however, showed that white voters supported it more than Latino voters. About 63% of white voters supported the measure compared with 54% of Latinos. Of white voters, 31% opposed, and 40% of Latinos were in opposition.

The survey also showed that 66% of renters supported the sales tax increase, and only 54% of homeowners supported it.

However, Councilwoman Alejandra Gutierrez pointed out that only 66 members total in her District 1 were included in the survey. District 1 is on Santa Barbara’s Eastside and is majority Latino.

“In my district, it was the smallest number — it was 66 out of everyone who got (surveyed),” Gutierrez said.

She said she supports affordable housing, but that the city really needs to show the community some accountability.

“We really need to show the community that we have a plan and we have accountability,” Gutierrez said. “I am very supportive of housing, but we need to be creative in how we are going to bring revenue to the city.”

Gutierrez was the only council member who opposed placing the sales tax on the ballot because she said it would hurt the community.

“There is a lot going on in the world, our state and especially our city,” Gutierrez said. “When I think of raising taxes, I think of the people who live in my district and the entire city. I also think of the situations we live in on a daily basis. Groceries went up, gas prices go up, we are raising water bills, and our local teachers are almost going on strike.”

Many people who spoke Tuesday were in support of the sales tax.

Frank Rodriguez, policy director for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, said he understands that the sales tax is regressive, but that the money generated can still go to the city’s Housing Trust Fund.

“We need to have a foundation of funds going into that,” Rodriguez said, “so that we can get future funds in order to really create the housing that is going to house or domestic workers, our service-sector workers, people that make our tourist industry thrive here in Santa Barbara.”

Mayor Randy Rowse said he supports the sales tax increase, which will go before voters on Nov. 5.

“For me, this is a really, really tough choice,” Rowse said. “Anytime you talk about raising taxes, it goes against every ounce of my body. However, this is the correct choice.”