The City of Lathrop is set to spend $4.95 million in Measure C funds during the next fiscal year, according to the proposal that will be reviewed next week by the Measure C Oversight Committee.

The Measure C Oversight Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, June 21, at 6 p.m. inside of the council chambers at Lathrop City Hall – located at 390 Towne Centre Drive.

Since being approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2012, the Measure C sales tax increase – which added a penny on dollar spent in Lathrop – has generated millions for essential city services and public safety and has allowed Lathrop to build up healthy reserves while at the same time completing longstanding projects like funding an independent police department.

And in just under a decade the amount of money that was Measure C was initially forecast to generate has increased by 150 percent – starting with an initial prediction of $2 million, with $800,000 of that going to the Lathrop Manteca Fire District, and growing to just over $4.95 million in the coming fiscal year.

The Lathrop Manteca Fire District, which lobbied hard to help get the measure passed, is set to receive $2.4 million in the upcoming fiscal year – more than the entire allotment generated the first year that the tax proceeds were passed back to the City of Lathrop.

According to the proposal included in the staff report for the upcoming meeting, Measure C will also technically be responsible for paying nearly six less full-time positions in the upcoming fiscal year. The current budget is paying for a deputy sheriff, a community impact officer, an investigations deputy, a school resource officer, a sergeant to serve as a supervisor, and half of a patrol deputy.

None of those positions will be funded by Measure C starting in July – likely because those positions will be funded through the General Fund since they will be City of Lathrop employees.

Measure C is still scheduled to pay the annual salary of six firefighters and 1.98 battalion chiefs – with additional finding allowing the district to do things like buy apparatus to replace aging equipment that will no longer pass certification tests.

For additional information, or to obtain a copy of the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Measure C Oversight Committee, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.