What's at stake?
With a fiscal crisis looming, public safety staffing at 2007 levels, public services haven't kept up with the city's rapid suburban growth. Officials are hoping taxpayers will kick in more to maintain what they say are the residents' high expectations around public safety.
Background
Clovis is a victim of its own success — at least, according to city Councilmember Drew Bessinger, one of the main cheerleaders of Measure Y, a tax that proponents say will increase police and fire department staffing and maintain the “Clovis Way of Life.”
The city’s rapid suburban growth has stretched public safety resources thin, with brand-new neighborhoods experiencing nearly double the emergency response times as older neighborhoods.
Even as property tax revenue in Clovis has outpaced Fresno, Los Angeles, and Bakersfield — it’s still not enough, as city leaders point to 87% of their general fund already supporting public safety. And the push for growth continues, with the area north of Shepherd Avenue a high priority for city leaders, with a long list of infrastructure demands.
And the pandemic-era funding that’s been keeping some city services afloat for the past few years is running out.
But residents, say Bessinger, have moved to Clovis with high expectations, when it comes to public safety — and he’s betting they’re willing to pay more for it.
A 25-person citizens’ committee, convened in 2022, came to this conclusion, with the majority recommending the city take charge to increase taxes in the name of safety.
Clovis isn’t the first city looking to the voters to cough up more dollars for city services. Voters in Mendota, Kingsburg, Kerman, and Sanger have all gone to the ballot box recently to raise more money for public safety.
Opponents are concerned that not only will Clovis residents have some of the highest taxes in the county — more than Fresno — but they don’t feel the tax has enough safeguards to ensure voters actually get what they’re promised.
It’s part of a bigger critique that groups like the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Republican Party have been making.
They also say that Clovis needs to take a closer look at where cuts could be made to their budget, before going to voters.
“My wife and I have a monthly budget, and if we have a need in one area, we reduce spending in another area – we could never just go to our neighbors and ask for more money. So why should Clovis?” asked Matthew Hartwig, with the Fresno County Libertarian Party.
What would Measure Y do?
Measure Y, affecting voters that live within the Clovis city limits, is a 1% sales tax on all goods purchased in the city.
It needs just 50% of voters to approve it to pass. Unlike many local taxes in Fresno County, this one doesn’t have a sunset date.
Proponents of the tax are branding the effort as a needed boost to the city’s police and fire staffing and to reduce emergency response times.
“There’s no way to get the goal of having a fully staffed Police Department without seeking another revenue source,” said Bessinger, a retired Clovis police captain.
He said the standard they’re trying to meet is one police officer for every 1,000 residents — or 120 officers. Today, the department has 116 officers — the same as in 2007, when Clovis had 40% fewer people.
The tax, if approved, would tie Clovis with seven other cities for the second-highest tax rate in Fresno County, at 8.975%. Reedley and Mendota currently have the honors of the county’s highest tax rate, at 9.225%.
How will residents be guaranteed the tax revenues are spent on public safety?
In short, they can’t.
Measure Y is a general tax — meaning proponents can’t make specific promises in the ballot measure for how funds are spent. This is different than Fresno County’s Measure C, which can only be spent on transportation, or Measure Z, which can only be spent on the zoo.
Clovis city leaders could theoretically spend Measure Y revenues on whatever they see fit, not just police or fire departments, a point not lost on leaders of the Fresno County Libertarian Party, in their argument against Measure Y.
“Are you aware that according to the measure itself, the raised funds are not guaranteed for public services, but could be used for any general services,” they asked.
Bessinger says that’s unlikely funds would be diverted from public safety, but encourages residents to be vigilant. “If we as a council don’t do what we’ve promised, then we need to be taken to the woodshed and we need to be removed from office with a recall.”
But he acknowledged there will be competition for the funds towards other “quality of life” issues, mentioning Clovis’ growing homeless population.
“We now have a community of homeless people who are somehow here because it’s safer to be homeless in Clovis than it is elsewhere,” he said.
What happens if Measure Y doesn’t pass?
The city’s fiscal outlook isn’t great, Bessinger said, pointing to a recent five year revenue analysis that he said forecasts some “fairly decent hits” in year three.
City Manager John Holt recently pointed to an expected $14 million general fund deficit by 2028, should voters reject the tax.
As a result, the way the police department operates could change, Bessinger added.
“There are some police departments, Fresno being one of them, but certainly not the only one — that no longer take traffic accident reports unless somebody’s injured. We don’t want to go there. We don’t want to be the department that says make a report online, or ‘no, you’re not getting a police officer for that’.”
Who decides how the tax revenues will be spent?
The Clovis City Council, generally. As a general tax, any of the estimated $28 million in annual revenue will be a part of the city’s budgeting process each year, where they can decide to spend it on anything from new police officers to parks to homeless services.
With the city’s footprint still rapidly expanding, how will they ease the strain on community resources?
Bessinger pointed to a recent decision by the City Council to raise developer impact fees. “We have a policy that development pays its way,” he said.
He noted that the development north of Shepherd has a high price tag, because there’s no water or road infrastructure — and why the city is looking more into building in established neighborhoods where the infrastructure, including police and fire stations — already exists.
But developer impact fees can’t pay for new police officers or firefighters, and Bessinger is optimistic that an expected decrease in the city’s public pension liability after 2030 will help lower payroll costs overall.
“I hope that in 10 years, we’ll be in a better position. And quite frankly, this is a measure that people can bring back and go ‘yeah, we don’t need the money anymore’.”
Endorsements
Yes on Y
Clovis Police Officers Association
Clovis Firefighters Association
Clovis City Councilmember Drew Bessinger
Former Clovis Mayor and City Councilmember Jose Flores
Clovis Chamber of Commerce
Former Clovis Unified Trustee Chris Casado
No on Y
Fresno County Libertarian Party
Who is funding the ballot measure?
Most of the support comes from public safety unions, although a few businesses, developers, and candidate committees have chipped in.
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