Amador County – Sutter Creek Councilman Tim Murphy led a discussion on revenue sharing at the Amador Regional Planning Committee meeting Wednesday in Sutter Creek. A consensus agreed further study should follow, working toward a presentation that can be taken around to cities and the county board of supervisors, as an educational tool. Murphy, chairman of the Regional Planning Committee, volunteered to put together the presentation, saying he has the time to do it and he really likes this issue. Murphy said “if you can get the individual cities and the county to talk about this, I think it’s going to save the county.” He said they have to “come up with a plan” because the economy will turn around and developers will want to build here. Ione Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said there has not been interest in revenue sharing on her city council. District 5 Supervisor Brian Oneto said “I have not heard a whole lot of support for it.” At-large committee member Rene Chapman said she thought it was a good idea but it “focuses too much on revenue.” She suggested the sharing of services and burdens, while seeking to place businesses in locations most effective for everyone. She said it could be presented as kind of an idea, and get input from cities and the county on “how this could work for you.” Murphy noted that it was a tough sell, and in past presentations, “most items were controversial to somebody or other in the audience.” He said all government bodies in the county have “negative impacts on our neighbors because we are so small.” He said the revenue sharing was about finding a way to place growth where it will be most effective without fighting over tax dollars. The Martell commercial site “set up the county for the next 20 years, but where does that leave the cities?” He said one idea would be setting up a sharing plan to have in place for the next Big Box stores to come to the county. Murphy said cities and the county have the ability to negotiate taxes and there is nothing preventing us from renegotiating the city-county tax split to benefit the cities. He said that the issue cannot exist without talking about revenue sharing. Story by Jim Reece