On Tuesday, May 26, Greenfield City Council approved the first step toward a possible extension of a 0.75-percent transaction and use tax for another six years. If adopted, the measure would go to voters on the November ballot. This would be the third time this measure is up for renewal, and would extend it to 2033.
Currently the city's sales tax is 1.75 percent. That includes a 1-percent sales tax originally approved by Greenfield voters in 2013 as Measure X, then extended indefinitely by Measure V in 2015.
The 0.75-percent portion of the tax was approved as Measure W originally for five years ending in 2021. Greenfield voters then passed Measure T in November 2020, extending it for another six years, which is now set to expire on March 31, 2027.
Measure T generates approximately $1.4 million per year to help fund 17 staff positions, 14-and-a-half of which are in the police department and two-and-a-half of them are in recreation, according to a city staff analysis.
“Seventeen positions—[these] are essential services to our city so we really need to get behind this and support it in order for the city to continue to do the good things we've been doing over the last few years,” Greenfield Mayor Robert White said.
The Council must do a second reading of the ordinance by Aug. 7 to ensure it becomes a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. This is a general tax measure and needs at least 50 percent of votes to pass.