A proposed half-cent countywide sales tax increase is already getting blowback, including at the Grass Valley City Council meeting earlier this week. Several councilmembers weren’t happy about the last-minute notice about the proposal, which the Board of Supervisors will consider for placing on the November ballot at its next meeting on August ninth. The revenue would focus on wildfire prevention and preparedness. But Mayor Ben Aguilar said Grass Valley already has Measure E to help address that issue. And he said there’s also a potentially adverse economic impact…

click to listen to Mayor Aguilar

Aguilar and other members also wondered why a parcel tax for the unincorporated county isn’t being proposed instead, where much of the wildfire danger exists. Parcel taxes often need two-thrds approval, while a general sales tax increase usually needs majority approval. The chair of the Nevada County Coalition of Fire Wise Communities, Scott Beasley, said their group supports the proposal and indicated that economic impacts might be overstated…

click to listen to Mayor Aguilar

County officials also told the Council that their polling indicated 64-percent support for the proposal. Four of the five members of the Board of Supervisors would need to approve placing it on the ballot.