Clovis voters will decide on a one percent sales tax measure in November that would fund public safety and other top community concerns.
Monday, the Clovis City Council unanimously voted to place the City of Clovis Public Safety/City Services Measure on the November 2024 ballot.
The big picture: The city placed the measure on the ballot following engagement with the community, including receiving over 1,000 community surveys from residents that detailed service priorities.
- Residents said their top priority for the city is to maintain the 9-1-1 emergency medical, police and fire response.
- If voters approve the measure, sales tax in Clovis will increase by one percent to not only maintain public safety but to keep public areas clean, provide support for local small businesses, protect local drinking water sources, expedite repairs to streets, address homelessness, maintain youth and parks programs and other services. .
- The sales tax would total 8.975 percent and provide an additional $28 million in annual revenue to the general fund.
Why it matters: City leaders say the tax is necessary in large part because the city’s population has increased by 40 percent in the last 15 years.
- Despite the population increase, the number of police officers in Clovis has not risen accordingly. The number of police officers per 1,000 residents decreased from 1.68 in 2005-2006 to 1.4 in 2019-2020.
What they’re saying: “Clovis is the safest city in the Valley and a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” said City Manager John Holt. “But our community is facing new and growing challenges from crime and homelessness coming from neighboring communities, increasing potholes on local streets and roads, and increasing costs of providing basic services. This measure will help maintain our Clovis way of life.”
- Holt continued, “We had a choice of making further cuts to local services that could more severely impact our local quality of life, or to give our voters the opportunity to consider providing our community with local funding that the state cannot touch. With today’s action, the council has elected to allow the community to decide. We encourage all eligible Clovis residents to vote in the upcoming November election.”
