Shafter's City Council voted Tuesday night to place a 1% sales tax measure on the November ballot, giving residents the final say on whether to increase the city's sales tax to address growing financial needs.City staff and coun cil members say the decision wasn't easy, but they believe it is a necessary step to protect essential services as costs continue to rise.Roger Sanchez, the city's finance director, offered an example of what the tax could mean for the average shopper, showcasing a $500 grocery shopping trip."This is an example of a $500 grocery [bill], where if someone spends if you notice, over $300 in this example are tax exempt items, all the items on fruits and vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, bread, basically all the things that are most of the things that are food related. The taxable items are fewer. The impact on this $500 shopping is $1.86. That would be an estimated normal impact, $1.86," Sanchez said.According to estimates presented by Sanchez, the 1% increase could bring approximately $4 million in revenue each year to help the city maintain its surplus.On Wednesday, I sat down with Shafter City Manager Lance Lippincott to discuss what putting the option before voters means for the community.Lippincott said that while the sales tax measure would affect everyone, the average resident is not where the city sees the bulk of its sales tax revenue, pointing toward Shafter's industrial and commercial sector."80% comes from our larger industrial and some of our commercial businesses. We're a little bit atypical like that. Most cities have strong retail components where most of their sales taxes derived. We're kind of the opposite," Lippincott said.Lippincott pointed to rising costs and the city's size as key drivers behind the proposal."We're just maintaining that currently. As we grow, we have to keep adding to these services. That way we can keep up with it. The other big thing that's looming over us is Shafter is 39 square miles. So we are the size of a lot of small counties. Most cities typically have a footprint under 20 square miles, which, when you spread out infrastructure, it begins to cost more," Lippincott said.According to Sanchez's presentation to the council, Shafter's current financial situation is far from dire, but he noted that if the city keeps a reactive approach, the costs will outweigh what the city is bringing in.Lippincott said, while he too is not a fan of adding to the sales tax, he appreciated the council for being proactive and trying to get ahead of any potential problems rather than waiting until finances become critical."A lot of times cities, and it's a lot of times for political reasons, they wait until the last moment to bring the sales tax when things start to get desperate. I really got to applaud the council for thinking ahead on this and not waiting until that last moment. It lets us effectively plan a lot better," Lippincott said. "Nobody wants to pay more in taxes. I get that, but it was very admirable of them to kick this over to the voters."In order for the measure to pass, it requires a simple majority vote - 50% in favor plus 1 vote - though Lippincott says the city isn't waiting for the votes to be tabulated to plan for the measure's passage or failure."We're always preparing contingencies, and I'll tell you, freezing and cutting services is not our first look. I mean, we're looking at alternative revenue sources now. Anything we can do so that we can maintain the service level that the citizens have kind of come to expect," said Lippincott. "I've got to admit, it's nice. Our police still respond to broken windows and everything else, and that's not typical."This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere: Download Our Free App for Apple and Android Sign Up for Our Daily E-mail Newsletter Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Instagram Subscribe to Us on YouTube ...read more read less