Last week's passage of a half-cent boost in the city's sales tax won't have much impact until next spring.

Measure R, approved by 58 percent of voters on Nov. 2, would raise El Cerrito's sales tax to 10.25 percent, but it doesn't take effect until April 1, said Suzanne Iarla, community outreach specialist in the city manager's office.

The city can now begin recruiting to fill positions that had been left vacant in the police department, but that process could take up to a year, Iarla said.

City operations will continue largely as they have been for the time being.

The tax hike "will enable the City to maintain the current level of program and services offered," Iarla said.

Before the vote, city officials warned that if Measure R failed, there would have been reductions in police and fire protection, as well as other core services.

In the times of budget deficits and uncertainty before the election, the city had left 14 positions vacant, including four in the police department.

"With the passage of Measure R, the Police Department will be authorized to begin the recruitment process for vacant positions, which often take as much as a year to fill," Iarla said in an email.

Filling any other vacant positions or altering operations will be decided later, after further review, Iarla said.

"Nothing else has been decided in terms of when to recruit for other currently vacant positions or any immediate changes in city services or programs from what they are now," she said.