Monterey Council will vote on term-limits, moving sewer fees to property tax bill

The Monterey City Council will vote on a potential ballot measure to create term limits for the mayor and council members.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the council will discuss the ballot measure which would include several other charter amendment changes including; term limits, gender-neutral terminology for elected officials, how new agenda measures are presented to the public, and clarifying language on how the city and the Monterey Public Library select department heads and officials.

The council started this discussion earlier this year in February to keep the city’s charter updated. The council was mostly in agreement on all of the measures, save for the term-limits. Councilmembers Ed Smith and Alan Haffa disagreed with setting any term limits at all, saying there were not very many people running for local government, and traditionally Monterey has had several mayors and council members who sat on the council for over a decade.

However, a majority of the council shared their enthusiasm for term limits and the potential for more diversity on the council. The measure is expected to pass.

Monterey city staff are also recommending that Monterey move forward with having sewer fees collected through Monterey One Water annually.

For the last year, Monterey One Water has been preparing cities for its decision to change its billing from a bi-monthly fee to an annual fee. This was proposed to be a cost-saving measure for Monterey One Water, by collecting fees through county property taxes. However, during the last Monterey One Water board of directors meeting, the board failed to meet the voting requirements to move forward with the decision.

Some cities, like Seaside and Pacific Grove, have opted to hold out and continue planning before making a decision.

Monterey staff are proposing that so much work has already been done to prepare for the city to make the change, and they should continue. However, the only caveat is that Monterey residents will continue to get a bi-monthly statement in the mail from Monterey One Water, even though they are paying sewage through their property taxes.

The Monterey City Council will meet at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday, at Monterey City Hall, 580 Pacific St. The meeting will be available via Zoom at https://monterey-org.zoomgov.com/j/1607729333