Paradise shelves safety tax

Determining that the time isn’t right to ask residents for more money, the Paradise Town Council tabled the parcel tax that would have bolstered police and fire protection.

As reported previously in the CN&R (“Putting a price on safety,” Newslines, April 29), the council voted 3-2 to put a $110-per-parcel tax on the November ballot. Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi, whose district includes the Ridge, lobbied against the decision, predicting the measure would fall well short of the two-thirds approval necessary for a new tax.

Last week, the council came to the same conclusion, voting unanimously at a special meeting to pull it off the ballot. “In talking to people,” Councilman Woody Culleton explained, “I learned that the public understands the need—they just can’t afford it.”

The tax would have generated $1.2 million a year for six years, enabling the town to hire additional police officers, firefighters and fire-prevention personnel.