Vacaville council authorizes $350,000 cap to fund voter surveys and education for possible tax measures

The Vacaville City Council on Sept. 9 authorized the city manager to publish a request for proposals for voter opinion surveys and public-education services to test and, if warranted, prepare possible ballot measures to increase the city's sales tax, transient-occupancy tax and business license tax. Council approved a one-time fiscal-year 2025-26 augmentation for the effort of up to $350,000; the motion passed 5-2.

City staff framed the request as a response to a projected structural general-fund deficit. "If we don't take action to either reduce expenses or increase revenue or a combination of both, we will continue to deplete the reserve," Georgianne, a city staff presenter, told the council. Finance staff provided a multi-year forecast showing reserves declining if revenues remain at recent low growth rates.

Why it matters: Staff told council the city faces roughly a $9 million annual shortfall under current projections and has been using reserves and one-time savings to balance recent budgets. The proposed RFP is intended to produce statistically valid polling, outreach materials, and a phased education plan so the council can decide whether to place one or more measures on the November 2026 ballot and, if so, in what form.

What staff presented: Ken, identified as the finance presenter, said Vacaville's revenue growth has slowed substantially and that the city used reserves and expense reductions in recent budget cycles to stay balanced. Staff said current options under consideration include: - A sales-tax increase (general-purpose sales tax). Vacaville's total combined retail sales tax rate is 8.125%; staff said the city currently receives about 1.75 percentage points of that total (the remainder goes to state and other local funds). Staff estimated a half-point (0.5%) city sales-tax increase could generate on the order of $14 million annually, based on prior studies and local data. Staff also said roughly half of Vacaville's sales-tax receipts come from out-of-town shoppers, an estimate staff will refine. - A change to the transient-occupancy tax (TOT), the tax applied to hotel and lodging bills. Staff described the components of the current local rate and noted Visit Vacaville's hotel-assessment program is also changing. - A business-license tax modernization, moving from the city's employee-count model toward a gross-receipts model. The city has started a study with consultant HDL to model options and impacts on small businesses and expects that work back to council in December.

Staff said all three measures would require simple-majority voter approval to pass if placed on the ballot. Staff also told the council of the direct administrative costs of placing measures on a county ballot: roughly $0.50 per registered voter per measure (based on the registrar's current estimate), which staff estimated as a substantial administrative cost to put measures on the November 2026 county ballot. The city currently has about 62,537 registered voters, staff said.

What the $350,000 would buy: The RFP would select a consultant to design and administer statistically valid polls, craft outreach and education materials, run community meetings, maintain a dedicated webpage and social-media/informational campaign, and provide advice on ballot-language drafting and campaign timing. Staff characterized $350,000 as a not-to-exceed estimate informed by costs in nearby cities and said the actual contract would be negotiated and presented to council when a vendor is selected.

Council debate and public comment: Speakers at the meeting voiced a range of views. Supporters said the city needs to gather reliable data now and that informed outreach raises the chance the council will put only measures that can pass. Skeptical council members and public commenters said $350,000 is a large outlay while the city is deficit-spending and urged alternatives such as using internal staff or phasing the effort. Georgianne and Ken said staff lacked the specific polling expertise required for valid, defensible results.

Vote and next steps: The council approved the motion to publish the RFP and authorize the augmentation by roll call, 5-2. Vote record provided in the actions[] section below. If the council meets direction, staff said they would publish the RFP by the end of the month, select a vendor in the fall, conduct an initial survey in early 2026 and a second survey after education efforts; any decision to place measures on the November 2026 ballot would return to council for a final determination and ballot-title submission.

Quotations: "We're not asking you tonight to make a decision about moving any of these tax measures forward, but we will ask you to make a decision on authorizing the city manager to release a request for proposals," Georgianne said during the presentation. "Our revenue growth has slowed down substantially," Ken said during the budget recap.

Ending: Staff will return with the RFP responses, negotiated contract terms and a proposed timeline. Council members said they expect to see modeling of household-level impacts, the business-license study results and polling cross-tabs before making any final ballot decision.