Will Fresno State tax be on county’s November ballot? Here’s why organizers say it’s coming
The Fresno State Improvement Zone Committee is set to turn in more than 25,000 petition signatures to the Fresno County clerk on Monday, a first step in getting a proposed county tax measure to benefit academic and athletics programs at Fresno State onto the November ballot.
The group in about six weeks collected the signatures, well ahead of a deadline to have them certified and in front of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors at its regularly scheduled Aug. 9 meeting.
“We’re looking pretty good to get on the ballot, I’d say,” said Tim Orman, former chief of staff for Fresno mayors Jerry Dyer and Lee Brand and a longtime political consultant who was hired to lead the effort.
Proponents need at least 25,000 signatures of eligible voters. “We’ll have probably around 29,000 is what we’ll end up turning in,” Orman said.
To get any measure or initiative on the ballot, backers have 180 days to collect signatures and the Fresno State Improvement Zone Committee got there in about six weeks, starting in early June.
The tax, pushed by Harris Construction owner Richard Spencer and the improvement zone committee, would raise the county’s sales and use tax by 0.2%. It would run for 20 years and generate an estimated annual average of $36 million, with at least two-thirds of the tax funds to be spent on academic programs and facilities and no more than one-third on women’s and men’s athletics facilities.
Programs targeted for funding include nursing, agriculture, criminology and engineering/STEM programs at the university, provide scholarships for local and low-income students and funding to repair and upgrade campus infrastructure, including a Bulldog Stadium in dire need of renovation.
The measure also would establish a five-member oversight committee appointed by the county Board of Supervisors that would control the tax funds, ensuring they are used consistent with the measure, oversee the issuance of bonds and provide an annual audit report.