By Savana Robinson | Bay City News
The city of Ukiah held a town hall at the Ukiah Conference Center on Thursday to offer additional information and answer questions from the public about the city’s controversial annexation proposal. The proposed areas that would be absorbed into Ukiah city limits are Millview to the north and Willow to the south of Ukiah.
Past meetings have been criticized by residents for being full of presentations by city officials without ample time for questions and comments. On Thursday, nearly 100 residents of Ukiah and the areas proposed to be annexed were able to voice opinions and ask questions about the proposal to a panel composed of executive city planners and two members of the Ukiah Police Department.
Ginny Richards, a Ukiah home loan officer and member of Mendo Matters, a group of concerned business and property owners that advocate for fair public policies, asked a question about business licenses that solicited a worried response from chief city planning manager Jesse Davis. Richards noted that the county charges less for a business license than the city and asked if there would be a phase-in process so that business owners could adjust to paying a higher fee. Davis explained that the county has a flat fee, and the city’s fee is determined by gross receipts, which are based on business income. Davis offered the calculations, and Richards said she had already played with them.
“I ran numbers for a business, it’s construction, and their gross revenue is about 4 million. And [the license] was over $1,000 instead of the $40 they’d currently pay,” Richards said.
Davis said this was worrying but noted that business licensing fees help with important services.”I think that was really concerning feedback,” Davis said. “We don’t want to shock anybody, but business license fees within cities and within our community do provide valuable services.”
On Wednesday, Mendo Matters sent a letter to the Ukiah City Council and staff, strongly opposing the proposed annexation, citing several reasons, including application of zoning uses changing, the difference in county and city business license fees and the implementation of city-level regulations and ordinances, among others.
During the meeting, city officials addressed concerns raised in earlier meetings and on social media. Police Chief Tom Corning gave an overview of police staffing, saying that the department currently has 29 sworn officers with seven recruits or academy graduates on their way to becoming officers. Corning said that minimum staffing per shift is three officers, with a tentative plan to raise that by at least two officers if annexation happens.
“The bottom line is the annexation would result in more law enforcement officers patrolling the Ukiah Valley, which directly improves community safety,” Corning said. “A larger UPD jurisdiction means more officers covering a slightly bigger city area, and MCSO [Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office] would have a slightly smaller county area to patrol with the same number of deputies than they currently have. This would reduce response times and improve services for both departments.”
Corning said that while the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority was not represented, its services will not change.
UPD Captain Jason Chapman gave a brief presentation on homelessness in the city. Chapman said that Ukiah’s position of county seat and the resources offered bring a larger transient population to the city. Chapman said that those arrested are often passed between UPD and MCSO.
“Annexing surrounding areas would allow us to standardize enforcement and procedures, provide services and expectations across the board and the region,” Chapman said. “A unified approach [would provide] more coordinated outreach effort and intervention.”
Chapman mentioned that services and resources for those suffering from the homelessness crisis will remain the same.
When city planning manager Davis took a turn to speak, he noted that annexation is not about development, rather compensating for an area developed to the city’s maximum.
“We’re not growing or developing. We’re annexing the existing area that’s built out,” Davis said. “The approach that we’re taking is using the existing zoning designations that the county has already applied.”
Davis made a point to clarify that animal-raising, such as having chickens on a property, is part of the county code that will remain the same, as will the noise ordinance. Davis also reassured the audience that the agricultural zoning designation within the annexed areas will stay the same.
However, he noted that the city will adopt the Williamson Act, which allows for agricultural land owners to enter a contract with a local government, in this case, the city, to protect their land from unnecessary urban development. He said that farmland security zones, such as those ensured by the Williamson Act, could not only sustain agriculture in the valley but also benefit it in a variety of ways, such as a recycled water program and allowing value-added products.
Ukiah City Manager Sage Sangiacomo said that the sales tax will rise for the areas being annexed from 7.875% to 8.875% to match the city of Ukiah’s sales tax. Sangiacomo mentioned that this extra percent would be used for public safety and infrastructure.
“That will provide critical funding to get more public safety out on our streets within the valley, and it will also provide additional money to continue to improve our streets beyond what is current city limits, but into the areas that may be part of the annexation,” Sangiacomo said.
A major concern among residents was how much money the county would lose if annexation goes through, especially given the county’s current economic woes.
Sangiacomo noted that Ukiah and the county already share taxes, and he broke down where both sales tax and property tax go. Of the 8.875% sales tax paid by Ukiah consumers, there is a base sales tax imposed by the state and 1% of it goes to the city.
The tax revenue from Millview and Willow currently goes to the county. The majority of the base sales tax goes to the state, but within it, funds are redirected to critical county and city services. This includes public safety, health and human services, and public transportation. In total, within the city limits of Ukiah, according to Sangiacomo, 2% of sales tax goes to the city and about 2.44% goes to the county.
“That tax-sharing is already in place,” Sangiacomo said. “This is how services are being funded through your city and county, with sales tax.”
Property tax amounts will not change as they are based on 1% of a property’s value, as required by California Prop 13. Currently, the county receives 28.73% of property taxes and the city gets 9.38%.
But if the annexation is approved, over the course of the next 15 years, according to the tax-sharing agreement, some taxes will gradually go to the city that formerly went to the county. Transient occupancy taxes, or hotel taxes, will transfer to the city over the course of five years.
“Typically, most tax-sharing agreements include the immediate sales tax,” Sangiacomo said. “In fact, by law, the only thing that has to be considered in the tax-sharing agreement is property tax. But that would hurt the county, that would hurt the city, because the county provides vital services. You can’t do that. So what is unique about ours is it allows a time of acclimation to occur through the process.”
Sean White, director of water and sewer for the city, said that both Millview and Willow’s water districts are in the process of a rate study that will raise rates for those areas, whether or not annexation happens. White also noted that no new infrastructure is currently being built for annexation, and residents won’t have to hook up to the Ukiah Valley Water Authority sewer or water if they aren’t already required to.
Also, if the annexation proposal is approved, customers currently being serviced by PG&E will have to re-enroll to receive their services through the city, not PG&E directly.
“Will annexation change your rates? I think most of the water utilities that are part of the Ukiah Valley Water Authority are working already towards having a footprint-wide standardized grade over the next 10 years or so,” White said.
“We need strong cities for a strong county, and we need a strong county for strong cities,” Sangiacomo summarized. “When we have fragmented government, trying to provide services outside of our lanes, it leads to inefficiencies, inadequate services, higher costs, and overall, we’re less likely to be prepared to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.”
The Ukiah Planning Commission will continue discussing the annexation proposal on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave., Ukiah. The meeting will be held in person and also available online. Find more information and the agenda here.