Most people don’t view pennies per se as being valuable.

But in Manteca and Lathrop pennies have shored up public safety.

Measure C — a one cent sales tax on top of the basic one cent local sales tax Lathrop voters imposed in 2012 — last year generated $10.4 million for the city of 32,500.

It includes $4 million sent to the Lathrop Manteca Fire District enabling the hiring of nine firefighters, 1.98 battalion chiefs, and a deputy fire marshal.

The Lathrop tax also funds 7.5 police officers in addition to various park and community crime prevention upgrades.

Measure M — a half cent sales tax on top of the basic one cent sales tax Manteca voters imposed in 2006 — last year  generated $10.292 million for the city of 90,000.

Unlike the Lathrop tax measure that that was twice the size of Manteca’s, Measure M is restricted to public safety expenditures.

More than a third of Manteca’s firefighter personnel — 18 out of 50 – wouldn’t exist without the half cent sales tax.

Given it takes 9 firefighters to staff an engine company 24/7, Manteca would only have three fire stations — and not five staffed — without the half cent tax.

Roughly a quarter of Manteca’s 78 police officers — 18 — would not be funded today if it wasn’t for Measure M.

Manteca and Lathrop were both headed toward the path where the Ripon Consolidated Fire District is today before the local sales tax increases were imposed.

Ripon Fire can only man one fire engine and not two due to funding issues. It has left one station closed and reliance on Manteca units to arrive on scene to battle structure fires given the three firefighters they have on duty don’t meet minimum requirements for four firefighters on a fire.

The Ripon fire district is expected to call for a parcel tax election when its board meets Thursday.

Traditional tax sources — property and in the case of Manteca, basic local sales tax — was slowly eroding the ability of the respective fire departments serving the cities as they weren’t keeping up with growth and inflation.

Ripon, like Lathrop, doesn’t have a city fire department. Both rely on a fire district that covers both urban and rural areas.

Fire districts rely on property tax that can be augment by parcel taxes.

Lathrop opted not to go the parcel tax route as it would not have generated enough money in the long-haul.

Instead, the city committed a set percentage of the one cent sales tax to go toward fire protection Lathrop Manteca Fire District provides within Lathrop’s city limits

Manteca’s current council has taken several steps in the last year to bridge funding shortfalls needed to maintain service levels when it comes to police and fire protection.

One placed an ongoing community facilities district fee for fire and police protection on new subdivisions. The other was a successful renegotiation of the property tax split with San Joaquin County on annexed property.

Those, coupled with a future tax  increase, would basically not just catch the city up on staffing needs but allow it to stay on top of them going forward.

A half-cent sales tax that would equal Lathrop’s current one cent sales tax would translate into an 8.75 cent tax rate for Manteca or the same sales tax rate Lathrop currently imposes.

If Manteca proposes a half cent sales tax and put 50 percent toward public safety, it could allow the hiring of nine more firefighters and nine more police officers.

That would mean Manteca would catch up with its current need of another engine company.

And, when coupled with a federal grant for five officers that will take the number of police officers in Manteca to 83 in the next three years, nine additional police officers with an added tax would bring officer staffing to 92.

The Measure M tax will allow Manteca to provide matching funds to secure the federal grant the five additional police officers,

 The citizens oversight committee for Manteca’s public safety tax meets Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Civic Ceber, 1001 W. Center St.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com