A member of Santa Maria’s Measure C campaign committee had a simple message to her fellow residents — give them a chance.

“Right now with Measure C is we’re giving the city of Santa Maria a chance, giving them a chance to fix the budget, to fix what they have to do, but do not close youth programs and senior programs and facilities,” said Cynthia Gudino, a volunteer member of the Yes on Measure C committee and a recreation and parks commissioner.

If approved by voters Nov. 3, Measure C would boost the sales tax rate to 9.25% for purchases within the city. The current rate sits at 8.75%. 

The additional sales tax proceeds, estimated at $13 million a year,  would go to quality of life needs such as streets, parks, library, aquatic center, and youth and senior programs.  Proceeds from a local sales tax would stay in the city rather than going into state or county coffers.

The measure requires a simple majority, or more than 50%, to pass. 

On Monday night, a town hall meeting mostly focused on outlining the need for the additional funds and steps taken to tighten the city spending before seeking a tax hike.

“Why are we doing this? To put it simply, the city’s expenditures are exceeding the revenues,” said Assistant City Manager Chuen Wu said, noting the inflation affects government operations. 

“The city is not immune to increased costs, whether it’s labor, whether it’s supplies, whether it’s services, those costs have been increasing and there’s some that are beyond our control,” Wu added.

Santa Maria has implemented steps including eliminating 50 full-time positions and other efforts to cut expenses by $12 million. 

“Should the sales tax measure not pass, there will be additional reductions in programs and services,” Wu added. 

He also revealed the financial differences between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, where both received roughly the same amount of sales tax.

But Santa Barbara gets $29 million a year in transient occupancy tax revenues, also known as hotel tax, compared to $4 million for Santa Maria. In property taxes, Santa Maria gets $28 million compared to $50 million for Santa Barbara. 

Public Works Director Brett Fulgoni said the additional sales tax funds would allow the city to complete projects such as road repairs at a lower cost rather than waiting for the condition to worsen and the needed fixes to get more complicated and costly.

Measure C has received emphatic opposition on social media, and Gudino said she understands those concerns. 

“You guys are being bombarded by negativity online,” one man said, noting that when chisme, or gossip, starts, it snowballs.

The state currently caps the sales tax at 9.25%. If the city tax measure fails, then a future Santa Barbara County tax measure could succeed, sending those funds to help that jurisdiction and not the city. 

Hearing this, one woman in the audience said she would now support Measure C to ensure the city gets the funds, instead of another jurisdiction.

Measure C would add on to the Santa Maria’s Measure U, a 1% tax increase which garnered 74% of the votes in November 2018. Most of those funds were directed to public safety.

Three additional Measure C town hall meetings are planned in the coming weeks, each occurring from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on:

• Sept. 21 at Edwards Community Center, 809 Panther Drive.

• Sept, 28 at Minami Community Center, 600 W. Enos Drive, 

• Oct. 5 at Shepard Hall, Santa Maria Public Library, 421 S. McClelland St.

Spanish interpretation services will be available during these meetings.

Questions can also be submitted in advance by sending an email to Jane Teh, administrative analyst, at tteh@cityofsantamaria.org.

The Yes on Measure C Committee has received $7,500 from Service Employees International Union Local 620, $3,000 from the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, $2,000 from Santa Maria Middle Management employees, $2,000 from the Santa Maria Police Association of Middle Management, according to campaign finance filings.

For more information regarding Measure C, visit the website at: https://www.cityofsantamaria.org/services/departments/city-clerk-records/elections/measure-c2026.

The campaign website supporting the sales tax increase measure can be found at yesoncforsantamaria.com.

There are no campaign finance filings for efforts opposing Measure C as of this week.