This is for Mayor Gary Singh and his fellow council members — Dave Breitenbucher, Jose Nuno, Charlie Halford, and Mike Morowit

I’m offering my two cents about increasing the sales tax in Manteca.

Strike that.

This is my half cent.

You’re getting nothing more from me. But you could get less or nothing at all.

That’s because I’m one of 40,000 people or so who will decide whether there should be an increase in sales tax.

It’s not the council. it’s not the city manager. It’s not city staff. And it certainly isn’t a consultant.

It’s the people who live here of voting age that collectively cast enough votes to put you — not the city staff and certainly not consultants — in charge of making the big calls.

And one of the biggest call you’ll make as a council member is whether to ask the voters for a general tax that you acting as a majority can’t legally impose.

You clearly know there is a need.

You also — by now — should know there are three general groups of people.

*Those who will not for any tax, period.

 It may be because of their precarious financial situation that they can’t afford the least obtrusive tax of all even if you can demonstrate an indirect improvement to their quality of life and safety levels if they approved it.

 It may because they believe you can somehow still keep cutting corners enough to put more police officers on the  streets and not have those streets deteriorate into a rougher ride than an old wagon train trail.

It may because they don’t trust government. Now that’s a shocker.

And let’s be blunt. Even though no malfeasance occurred, it didn’t help that Manteca for a few years fumbled its financial accounting game.  You may want to leave the Miranda Lutzow-Lisa Blackmon Era with the revolving door syndrome in the rearview mirror but people do tend to have long memories of what one might politely call a major faux pas for the ages.

*Those who are already sold on a tax.

They do exist, just like M&Ms.

But that doesn’t mean someone channeling Carlson Tucker on social media can’t get them to buy into a conspiracy theory.

*Those who aren’t a slam dunk.

They may belong to the “taxes are a necessary evil “school of thought.

They may understand you get what you pay for.

They may actually even understand the city has no choice but to follow the byzantine rules, regulations, and such that restrict with what you can do with the public’s money.

That said they still expect accountability and results.

Moving on, you don’t need a consultant to tell you what the city’s current needs are.

If you don’t already know the city’s most pressing needs and why there isn’t enough money then we have a problem. You, after all, told us what the problems and needs were when you were jockeying for our votes.

Those $1.2 million replacement fire engines and nine extra police officers don’t grow on trees.

And please don’t say it’s not a good time to ask for a tax increase.

It never is.

If there is a true need, then ask. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected.

If you need a consultant to give you courage by doing a drive-by phone survey loaded with leading questions, then do us all a favor. Buy a Ouija board instead. It’s a lot cheaper.

Keep in mind staff may know best when  it comes to the direction Manteca is headed but it isn’t their call.

Do not misunderstand. They care about Manteca and do solid jobs. But how many of them have a skin in the game besides their paycheck?

Actually, that is unfair. Almost every city employee is conscientious and do their jobs and then more. They do care about Manteca.

But the people who have skin in the game — this is where they not only live and likely own a home which is the biggest investment they are ever going to make— will likely still be here as well as their families long after city department heads retire and move on.

That is why the council — not staff and not a consultant — needs to drive a tax rate ask.

That means the council needs to come up with a timeline and not the people who have struggled to keep on top of fees charged to growth as we get hit with waves of 900 plus more housing units yearly that are likely not 100 percent paying what they should be paying to pick up their fair share of the tab for municipal, infrastructure due to the speed that city hall moves at.

It is why the council needs to determine the need and the basic framework of what they are asking for.

After they do that, then give staff marching orders. And, in all fairness, it could include hiring outside help to move the work to make a tax ask forward  in timely manner.

A couple of other quick points.

Trust the voters but don’t expect them to trust the city.

Use the Measure K sales tax approach that the San Joaquin Council of Governments did.

Have a 20-year spending plan that sunsets. Then before it ends, make your case for voters to extend it another 20 years. It works. Just ask SJCOG.

Measure K for roads and transit got extended because there is proof all around that government leaders kept there word and produced results.

It would be a perfect approach with a 2024 ballot initiative especially if it is a half cent and a quarter of a cent is committed to public safety. Manteca would have the funds to hire 9 more police and 9 more firefighters to effectively play catchup.

Yes, the salaries are reoccurring expenses but guess what? The Great Wolf tax sharing goes away for good just as a 20-year sales tax measure would expire. That money freed up would fund those positions and then some.

Based on current trends and constant dollars a half cent increase would generate $8.6 million. Of that, $4.3 million could go to public safety.

As for the rest, each and everyone who ran for council pointed to roads. If the city had $4.3 million coming in annually over 20 years that represents a lot of existing street pavement that can be improved.

Manteca now has an 8.25 percent sales tax as does Tracy. Lathrop is at 8.75 percent.

Another half cent would be where Lathrop is at. And judging by where Lathrop is at, it is making  a big difference in the quality of life as well as their public safety staffing levels.

And don’t buy into the argument that someone in Manteca will deliberately spend $4.19 a gallon on gas plus wear and tear on their vehicles to save paying a dime more on a $20 taxable item 

The bottom line is simple.

Do your job you spent thousands of dollars of other people’s money to win.

Don’t pass the buck. Make the hard decisions.

And remember pennies add up.