Special to the Town Crier
If the Measure I's proposed utility-user tax increase - from 3.5 percent to 6.25 percent - passes next Tuesday, the Los Altos City Council already has a watchdog committee in place to monitor the new revenue.
At its Oct. 12 meeting, the council voted to add to the duties of the existing Citizen's Financial Advisory Committee (CFAC) the job of "serving as a watchdog committee" for new revenue if Measure I passes.
To do this, "the new increment of revenue would be separately identified, and the funds would be separately allocated and tracked to enable a citizens' committee to compare the use of the funds to the advisory recommendations in Measure H," said Starla Jerome-Robinson, finance director for the city of Los Altos.
Measure H is an advisory ballot that "provides community guidance regarding service improvement in maintenance, recreation and public safety," Jerome-Robinson said. The Measure also refers to a watchdog committee to "monitor the allocation of all revenues collected above the 3.5 percent," she said.
Because of the education needed to bring a new committee up to speed to handle this task, the council agreed it would be more efficient to add this oversight responsibility to an existing committee. Part of CFAC's job will be to prepare an annual report for the council, reviewing actual use of additional revenue.
ahead, comparing both with the suggestions in Measure H.