Riverside Voters To Decide Future Of Measure Z Sales Tax In June 

Riverside voters will soon decide whether to increase sales tax in the city to cover the cost of improving the city’s fire department. 

The Riverside City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to add a ballot measure in the June 2 primary election that, if passed, would not only extend the city’s 1% Measure Z sales tax past its current 2036 deadline, but also increase it to 1.25%.

If approved by voters in November, the additional revenue would mostly be used to cover the costs of  a massive “urgent” overhaul of the Riverside Fire Department (RFD) over the next 15 years, which city staff said would struggle to meet increased demands in the coming years.

“We’re breaking ground on significant amounts of housing, and the money is needed for those services,” Councilmember Philip Falcone said at the March 2 council meeting. “I trust the voters to make that informed decision, and I say it can’t hurt by us putting it on the ballot.” 

According to City Manager Mike Futrell, RFD’s team has become more strained as the city has continued to grow over the past two decades. In the last eight years alone, the staff report on the item said the fire department had experienced a 26% increase in service demands, which coincided with the last time the department added new staff members to its team.

Last year, the report added, the department responded to more than 47,000 calls. The city predicted that number would increase by 3,000 this year. 

In order to meet the growing needs of the city, Futrell said RFD would require additional staff, significant facility upgrades and new equipment purchases over the next 15 years, which was estimated to cost nearly $300 million and would almost double the department’s annual budget.

“The fire department must, year over year, slowly grow just a little bit to keep up,” Futrell told the council. “As the population increases, we should add a few firefighters to keep up, and we’ll never be back in this situation again.”

Back in 2016, voters approved Measure Z, which added a 1% sales tax to fund public safety with an end date of 2036. Over the past decade, the Riverside Police Department received $215 million and RFD received $100 million.

Measure Z’s extension, coupled with a quarter percent increase, was estimated to bring in $106 million in 2027. Along with supporting an overhaul of RFD, the revenue would also be used to expand RFD and address other needs like purchasing drone technology for police, upgrading the city’s cybersecurity systems, paying to maintain community facilities and repairing potholes. 

The council was also provided with three other options, including adding a supplemental standalone 0.25% sales tax, extending Measure Z and implementing a 1% transient occupancy tax increase or doing nothing.

Proponents for the tax measure included former city councilmember Mike Gardner and Riverside City Firefighters Association President Mike Detoy, who said RFD has long needed upgrades and that the tax extension and increase would benefit the city long term. 

Opponents to the measure said residents were feeling “tax fatigue” and had concerns the city council could ultimately use the funds for projects other than improving the fire department.

“Whatever happens tonight, no one should vote for these new taxes,” local watchdog Jason Hunter said. “We will absolutely get bait-and-switched again, because there will be no controls on how the money is spent.”

The council members, however, unanimously agreed that putting the tax extension and increase to the voters was necessary to fund RFD’s planned growth. The council members also pointed to ward-specific uses, like pothole repairs and homelessness initiatives, that the money could also help address. 

Council members Jim Perry and Clarissa Cervantes also expressed some reservations about the tax extension and increase, with both concerned that it could increase the burden on taxpayers. Councilmember Chuck Conder said he initially did not support the effort, but said that increased risk in his ward changed his mind. 

“We don’t sell public safety, we provide it,” Conder said. “If you want the good service that you deserve, [if] you want that world class service, we have to pay for it.”