Hercules Could Declare Fiscal Emergency Again Tuesday

Hercules isn't out of the woods yet.

Facing a budget deficit of more than $1 million for the second year in a row, the Hercules City Council may declare a state of fiscal emergency this week–for the second year in a row.

A unanimous vote for a state of fiscal emergency would make it easier for tax increases to pass at the ballot–tax hikes could be passed with a 50-percent-plus-one-vote margin instead of the usual two-thirds margin.

Council members said late last month they would discuss putting before voters an increase in the city's utility users tax.

"This time last year, the discussion was that we knew we wouldn't get it all in one bite," City Manager Steve Duran said of the city's deficit at a council meeting last month. "Even with a 1 percent sales tax [increase] we wouldn't have gotten all of it, and we went with a half-percent sales tax. We didn't eliminate a structural deficit last year."

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Hercules City Council meeting
7 p.m. Tuesday
City Council Chambers, 111 Civic Dr. 

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