Merced County's proposed sales tax could help public safety agencies

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Merced County voters volition spot a half-cent income taxation connected their ballot successful November.

The Merced County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday that the income taxation volition money nationalist information agencies wrong the county.

If passed, the wealth generated from the income taxation volition spell to the sheriff's office, the region occurrence department, the territory attorney's office, and the six incorporated cities.

"We hatred taxes, I hatred paying taxes, but if I'm paying a taxation that's going to enactment section and spell straight for what it's intended to beryllium utilized for; nationalist safety, fire, our D.A., I tin instrumentality that benignant of tax," said Daron McDaniel, Merced County  Supervisor, District 3.

For Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, the backing from this income taxation is captious for his department.

"I'm 25% down successful my operational bureau, truthful let's bash immoderate mathematics and recognize that connected a regular basis, I should beryllium fielding up to 12 cars. We're really, truly fortunate if I get six oregon seven," Warnke said.

When Warnke joined the Merced Sheriff's Office successful 1979, the county's colonisation was 150,000.

Today that colonisation has astir doubled. With the deficiency of funding, they person less deputies connected the thoroughfare contiguous than they did 45 years ago.

"There could beryllium a clip you telephone 911 and determination ain't going to anybody determination to reply it," Warnke said. 

To get by successful the meantime, Warnke responds to calls also, the section created an online reporting system, and a telephone application.

But adjacent the unit they bash have, are underpaid, "if this does travel to fruition, I afloat judge that I tin beryllium afloat staffed wrong a year," Warnke said.

As for the Merced County Fire Department, McDaniel said 2 stations are shutting down, and others volition beryllium combined.  

"We bash person we person occurrence departments that are adjacent unneurotic and we were going to harvester the 2 of them and past we person 1 retired connected McKee arsenic good that we were going to close," McDaniel said.

Residents volition beryllium proceeding much astir the projected taxation successful the coming months.

The taxation needs two-thirds of elector approval. If passed it volition spell into effect connected April 2, 2025, and volition past for 30 years.