San Diegans to decide on raising city’s minimum wage

Propositions I — a proposed minimum wage increase and earned sick time — and H — creation of an infrastructure fund — are among decisions for City of San Diego voters to make on June 7.

These two propositions are among nine on the ballot and, based upon the voter guide, the only with opposition.

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Proposition I, if passed by a majority, would require employers of workers within city limits to pay a minimum $10.50 per hour when the ordinance goes into effect, $11.50 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2017, and increase hourly wages annually based on the cost of living starting Jan. 1, 2019.

If it passes, Proposition I would make the minimum wage within the City of San Diego higher than that in California and other communities in the county. The state’s minimum wage rose from $9 to $10 per hour for most hourly employees on Jan. 1.

Proposition I would also require earned sick leave of up to 40 hours per year. While use can be limited to 40 hours annually, accrual cannot be capped and unused leave must be carried over. Leave can be used for employee illness or a family member’s, for medical appointments and other specified reasons.

The San Diego City Council approved the City of San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance in August 2014. It is going before voters due to a referendum petition.

Supporters include City Councilman Todd Gloria; Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm’s founding chairman and CEO Emeritus; and Jack Harkins, United Veterans Council of San Diego chairman. They claim Proposition I will help more than 170,000 “hardworking San Diegans pay rent, put food on the table and support their families.” They say nearly one in four families of full-time workers cannot make ends meet due to San Diego’s high cost of living.

They said a minimum wage job pays $20,800 per year, while San Diego’s median rent is $16,152 per year. If passed, the city’s new minimum will increase low-wage workers’ wages by an average of $1,400 per year.

Supporters said earned sick leave will allow parents to stay home with a sick child without losing pay and “prevent kitchen staff and food servers from being forced to work when they are sick.”

Economist Alan Gin said the measure is good for San Diego because “studies show it will inject $260 million into the local economy. When low-wage earners get a raise, they spend virtually every dollar close to home, often at local small businesses.”

Opponents include Jerry Sanders, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO plus former San Diego mayor and police chief. Opponents claim a city-only wage hike will cause serious harm to small businesses, which will likely move outside of city limits and harm the city.

Opponents also say since California raised wages 25 percent in the past two years, the impact of those hikes should be known before additional wage increases are implemented. They claim this is promoted by San Diego’s “big unions” who “were behind the gold-plated pensions and big government salaries that nearly bankrupted our city.”

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Proposition H, if passed by a majority, would add a new infrastructure fund section to the San Diego Charter. The amendment would require the city place certain unrestricted general fund revenues into a newly-created infrastructure fund starting with fiscal year 2018 and continuing through fiscal year 2022.

The dedicated revenue would include 50 percent of the growth over the base year of major revenues like property taxes, transient occupancy taxes and unrestricted franchise fees. The latter comes from utilities that use public streets to distribute their product, like electricity.

A portion of unrestricted sales tax revenue would also be diverted to the fund from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2043. If the city’s pension cost payments through 2043 exceed their 2016 cost, the difference also goes into the fund.

According to the city attorney’s impartial analysis, the general fund is the city’s primary operating fund and receives most city tax revenues. Some infrastructure improvements, like water and wastewater facilities, are funded by ratepayers and not the general fund.

The proposition would place unrestricted general fund revenues in a restricted fund, to be used only for costs, including financing and personnel, associated with acquiring real property, construction, repair and maintenance. Infrastructure includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, bike paths, storm water and drainage systems, public buildings and park facilities. Excluded are new convention center facilities and new professional sports facilities.

The measure does not increase or decrease city revenue, but restricts a portion that would otherwise be available for other programs and services. Officials estimate that within the first five years, $140 million to $200 million might be allocated to the fund. The city would also have to maintain its current general fund spending on infrastructure.

City Councilman Mark Kersey was the author of Proposition H, dubbed RebuildSD. He said the city has a $1.4 billion deficit and about 700 miles of streets in poor condition. He said this “will insure that future city leaders do not repeat the mistakes of the past. RebuildSD makes infrastructure a core function of city government, dedicating up to $4 billion towards San Diego’s streets, sidewalks, parks, libraries (and) fire and police stations.”

He said it does not raise taxes or create new taxes and requires the city to pay for core infrastructure before non-essential projects or employee salary increases.

Opponents, including San Diego Taxpayers Advocate President Scott Barnett, said Proposition H will not meet the city’s most urgent infrastructure needs and will leave the city with a $1.2 billion infrastructure funding deficit in the next five years. Opponents say the proposition does not require funds to be directed to the most urgent needs, lacks a project list, lacks transparency and oversight mechanisms, and the money might be spent on “pet projects.”

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There are seven other propositions city voters will also be deciding. There were no arguments filed against them for inclusion in the voter guide. All require a majority of votes to pass.

They are proposed charter amendments dealing with council district redistricting (Proposition A), authorization and issuance of general obligation and revenue bonds (B), levy, assessment and property tax collection (C), salaries (D), the budget and appropriations process (E), city financial operations (F) and account auditing when a city official dies, resigns or is removed from office (G).

Details on each can be found in the voter guide mailed to registered voters and at sdvote.com.