Change to Riverside sales tax measure proposed

Riverside voters will soon decide whether to raise the amount of sales tax revenue generated by Measure Z from one cent to 1.25 cents.

Voters will also decide on June 2 whether Measure Z, which is scheduled to expire in 2036, should be voted out of existence whenever the city’s electorate decides to do so, according to a statement one Riverside’s website.

Measure Z was approved in November 2016.

If approved, the Services Renewal Measure is expected to raise an additional $21 million per year. Because Measure Z is a general tax, the renewal measure must receive at least 50 percent of the votes cast plus one to be passed.

The services renewal should be passed because Riverside must pay for rising personnel and pension costs, inflation, unfunded state mandates, and other cost increases, according to the statement.

“Our community has an opportunity to provide a higher level of service, and this measure puts that decision in the hands of voters,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in the statement.