There are now 1,997 homes approved to be built in Manteca that have the potential to add up to 18 police and fire positions.

That’s roughly 11 more than that many houses would have funded before the City Council last year made it clear that any new tract developments seeking entitlements to build would need to agree to an add-on police, fire and street maintenance tax.

That tax — the exact amount is yet to be determined — is designed to bridge a funding shortfall between property and sales tax a new home generates to cover the need for added public safety personnel. It  also will make sure street maintenance within the taxed subdivisions will essentially be self-funded.

Manteca is the only city in the region that is pursuing a police, fire, and street maintenance add-on tax for all development that it can encumber.

It is part of a three-pronged council strategy to ultimately have in place a permanent solution.

*Traditional property and sales tax — along with the Measure M public safety tax — will provide foundational funding for police and fire

*An intermediate fix could be an added special sales tax the council may put before voters in 2024.

*The police-fire-street tax add-on is the long-term solution.

Together, Mayor Gary Singh is convinced Manteca’s long history of underfunding police and fire services — especially compared to nearby cities in the Northern San Joaquin Valley – will finally be addressed.
“We are doing things but they are long term so the results won’t happen right away, ” Singh said.

Besides encumbering new developments with the add-on tax, the council is using every opportunity an already entitled project provides to force the issue as well.

The best example was when the already approved 760-home Villa Ticino West project on Airport Way and Louise Avenue wanted to use the community facilities district tax mechanism to pay for sewer and water infrastructure. The city required the developer to agree to the add-on tax in exchange for the city allowing the CFD for infrastructure.

The 1,997 homes encumbered so far include Villa Ticino West, the 197-home Dutra project southeast of Airport Way and Woodward Avenue, the 870-home Lumina development in the southwest corner of the same intersection as well as the 173-home Indelicato neighborhood just approved on Airport Way immediately north of Del Webb at Woodbridge.

Although, it is just a broad comparison in the general fund budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, the 875 single family home starts in 2022 translated into two additional police officer positions.

It also allowed two part-time positions in animal control and code enforcement be converted to fulltime. That assumes already established development paying property and sales taxes went to cover inflationary public safety costs including pay raises for existing police and fire personnel.

As such, 1,997 homes could be expected to add seven more public safety related positions. The add-on public safety tax would generate funding for 11 more positions.

The assumptions for that to happen include:

*The city would ultimately establish a starting annual tax of around $1,000 per home.

*For explanation purposes, it removes setting money aside for internal street maintenance within each subdivision.

*It uses the $181,000 cost (in 2023 dollars) to add a police officer including salary, benefits, and outfitting but not overtime.

*It sets the same cost for a firefighter that costs a little bit less to hire.

*The general fund doesn’t — at some point — crater as it did after the 2008 housing crisis started when drops in property and sales tax forced 12 public safety positions to be eliminated.

*The 11 number couldn’t be reached — and sustained — until all 1,997 homes are built.

Given the 11 additional public safety personnel doesn’t allow for money to be set aside for street upkeep, the actual number of additional police and fire the tax will generate will be lower.

Even so, in broad terms it will cover the funding gap.

Those 1,997 homes will generate 6,000 plus residents.

If the goal is one officer per 1,000 residents, the add-on tax after streets are taken care of allows roughly nine additional positions beyond the 7 that basic property and sales tax generation would provide. The means 1,997 homes would be paying for 11 public safety employees

If they are split evenly between police and fire, that would provide almost six additional police officers for the 6,000 additional  residents.

That reflects the target goal of one officer for every 1,000 residents that a number of people believe Manteca needs to attain.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com