Riverside council to place Measure Z extension and 0.25% sales-tax increase on June ballot to boost fire staffing

Riverside City Council voted unanimously on March 3 to place a ballot measure before voters on June 2 that would extend Measure Z and raise the city sales tax by 0.25 percentage points. City staff and the fire department told the council the revenue is necessary to hire firefighters, reduce critical response delays and pay for new or temporary stations.

City Manager Mike Futrell said the recommendation responded to rising demand and growing wildfire risk. “If we do nothing, the incident of overload and critical overload will continue to rise,” Futrell said, summarizing an AP Triton staffing study that found the city needs 84 additional firefighters to meet response-time standards and recommended a phased plan to add personnel and facilities. Futrell told the council the personnel cost for phase 1 is about $17,440,000 and the bonded repayments for stations would add about $8,700,000 a year.

Futrell described the staff-preferred option as a two-part approach: extend the voter-approved Measure Z (which currently funds police, fire and other services) and add a quarter-cent sales-tax increase to provide immediate funding. Staff estimated the sales-tax change would generate roughly $21 million in near-term revenue and said proceeds would be accounted for separately with audits and public reporting.

Fire union and department leaders urged support. Mike Detoy, president of the Riverside City Firefighters Association, said the department is already taxed by rising call volumes and understaffing and endorsed staff’s recommendation. “Ensuring the fire department is properly staffed protects lives,” Detoy said. Fire Chief Steve McKinstor told the council that 70% of calls are medical and that response times are slipping; he said temporary stations and hiring steps could begin quickly if voters approve funding.

Opponents and some callers asked for stronger guarantees. Several residents and callers warned that past general-tax revenues had been spent on items they did not expect and asked the council to add encumbrance or reporting safeguards. City staff and the city’s finance lead said the city can account for and report funds in a separate subfund and provide regular audits and public updates if the question is on the ballot.

Council discussion emphasized local priorities and voter choice. Councilmember Falcone moved staff’s recommendation; another councilmember seconded. After further debate — including questions about a sunset clause and whether the measure should be perpetual “until ended by the voters” — the council voted to adopt the resolution calling the municipal election and placing the measure on the June ballot. The motion passed unanimously.

What the ballot measure would do: the staff-recommended ballot language asks voters to approve renewing the city’s local transaction-and-use tax at an updated rate and to extend Measure Z’s funding structure. If approved by voters, staff said the city would use separate accounting, audits and disclosure policies to report how money is spent, and would apply the first revenue to hiring, wildfire prevention, equipment and a phased plan to build or site temporary stations.

Next steps: The council’s action sends the measure to the June 2 ballot; if voters approve it the sales-tax change would go into effect January 1, 2027, and staff said hiring and temporary station work would be planned immediately. Councilmembers and staff said they will pursue an educational outreach program to explain details to voters and pledged periodic public reporting if the measure passes.