Most people don’t view pennies per se as being valuable.
But in Manteca and Lathrop pennies have shored up public safety.
Measure C — a one cent sales tax on top of the basic one cent local sales tax Lathrop voters imposed in 2012 — last year generated $10.4 million for the city of 32,500. It includes $4 million sent to the Lathrop Manteca Fire District enabling the hiring of nine firefighters, 1.98 battalion chiefs, and a deputy fire marshal.
The Lathrop tax also funds 7.5 police officers in addition to various park and community crime prevention upgrades.
Measure M — a half cent sales tax on top of the basic one cent sales tax Manteca voters imposed in 2006 — last year generated $10.292 million for the city of 90,000.
Unlike the Lathrop tax measure that that was twice the size of Manteca’s, Measure M is restricted to public safety expenditures.