Santee sales tax

SANTEE COUNCIL PUTS SALES TAX INCREASE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT

By Mike Allen

June 30, 2024 (Santee) -- The Santee City Council has unanimously approved an initiative to raise the sales tax charged within the city by a half cent for improved fire protection, including two new stations and firefighters.

The measure, which would increase the tax on items sold in the city from 7.75 to 8.25 percent, will expire in 15 years if passed by a a simple majority of Santee voters in November. Called the Santee Emergency Safety Protection Ordinance, the initiative was championed by the Santee Firefighters Association, which collected some 3,800 valid signatures from city residents to qualify for the ballot.

The Council voted this week to place it on the ballot and forego a detailed report on how the funds would be spent.


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KOVAL TALKS SAFETY IN THINLY ATTENDED TOWN HALL, SKIPS SOME HEATED SANTEE ISSUES

By Mike Allen

June 21, 2024 (Santee) -- At the end of Santee Councilwoman Laura Koval’s District 3 town hall on June 18, she opened it up to questions, but there were no takers. Perhaps that’s a sign of satisfaction about the direction the all -Republican City Council has steered Santee over the past decade, or maybe it’s a lack of interest among residents.

She then tried to coax the assembly of about 30 people, mostly city staffers, and got this: “Tell us a fun Padres story.”

The former director of ticket sales for the Padres obliged, telling a story involving the team’s first World Series and the late Raiders defensive star Lyle Alzado. But she wasn’t challenged about any of the decisions she and her colleagues in the City Council have made in the past several years.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.