Officials fear Belvedere’s draft charter goes too far

Belvedere officials unveiled the first draft of a charter that will need to be approved by voters to allow the city to levy a new tax for its multimillion-dollar critical-infrastructure project — though some residents and city councilmembers expressed concerns the current document is too broad and could be confusing for voters.

The draft was reviewed at the council’s Feb. 14 teleconference meeting, the first of two scheduled public hearings on the document. The type of proposed tax to fund the city's critical-infrastructure isn’t legal in general-law cities like Belvedere, so to levy it, Belvedere also needs voter permission to become a charter city, meaning it would govern by its own adopted local constitution rather than the state’s general statutes. City officials say they plan to pose both issues to voters as one bundled ballot measure, possibly as soon as November.

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