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You can forgive Pleasanton residents who feel like they’ve city elected and staff leadership pushing a campaign forward to raise taxes.
The first shoe fell when the long delayed (and overdue) water rates adjustment was made. Rates hadn’t been adjusted in eight years and that meant needed maintenance and capital improvements were lagging. Good policy generally adjusts rates modestly year over year so customers can adjust. Pleasanton missed on that and PG&E, with its 30% hike in electrical rates (with potentially more to follow) is the poster child.
People are choking when they see their electrical bills after those huge hikes aimed at paying safety measures to underground high-voltage lines in areas of high fire danger. My household is always in the third tier because we have filters running on 220 volts in the swimming pool and hot tub to say nothing of six adults living here using plenty of electrical devices. It used to a summer bill, once natural gas was reduced to heating water and the dryer, would be in the $450-550 range. Oh, how I wish. Last month’s was in the high $600 and the current bill topped $800, what once was a winter bill. I shudder to think what it will look like in January (and we only run the heater 5 hours a day).
The city of Pleasanton analysis says the city faces an ongoing shortfall, caused by the drop in hotel tax and the uncertain future for Stoneridge mall and its surrounding area. The long-awaited Costco warehouse on Johnson Drive, targeted for an August opening, will help. The council extended a development agreement with Simon Co., owner of most of the shopping center, although pieces are owned by other firms.
Over its more than 40-year history, the mall has expanded (Nordstrom and Sears) and then contracted as Emporium went out of business, Sears closed and Nordstrom closed during the pandemic and decided not to re-open. The JCPenney store would not exist has not Simon partnered with another big mall owner to bail the company out financially to avoid further major holes in their centers.
Simon’s approved plan would tear down the parking structure and the Sears building and construct an open air two-story addition similar to CityCenter in San Ramon. The company has held off launching construction on that as executives try to guess what will draw customers10 years from now. Good luck.
For now, the city extracted some money from Simon to extend the agreement despite the frustration of some council members. That can be understood, but aside from life science firms such as 10X Genomics and Unchained Labs where people have to come to the office to do their jobs, it’s very different for software companies such as nearby Workday. Remember, Workday had the site where the new 10X Genomics building is locked up and then walked away once the realities of work-from-home hit.
Meanwhile mall sales tax revenues continue the decline that started years ago and the city is searching for additional revenue sources. A polling firm has been working with the city on a $200,000 contract to determine the viability of the ½ cent sales tax. The council will consider that at its meeting Tuesday night.
Bottom line is that the measure has a reasonable shot at passing with a strong campaign for it and no opposition. For details, check the city’s website.
What will be interesting is seeing a tax measure on the ballot while there’s contested elections for City Council. Mayor Karla Brown and Councilwoman Valerie Arkin were pretty casual about spending millions on capital projects despite warnings from mayoral candidate Councilman Jack Balch. With the election looming, they’ve been more prudent.
As much as government can be interesting, Tuesday’s meeting may be a fun watch.
