The Arcadia City Council approved a 5% tax on interstate and international telephone calls over the strong objections of residents. The tax, which will cost about $.40 per person per month, is expected to generate $225,000 in city revenues, which will help close the gap between the city's general fund expenditures and revenue.
Article outlines discussion at City Council meeting about the ballot measure to increase the utility tax to raise money for the schools. It was suggested a higher admission tax at Santa Anita Park be used to raise the money.
City Council unanimously agreed to hold a June election to attempt to bail the school district out of its financial troubles. Proposition A would increase the utility tax by 2%, bringing in $550,000. Proposition B would raise the tax an additional 1% bringing $250,000 more. The funds would be for maintenance of school property and facilities used by the city.
Don Pellegrino, incumbent on the ballot for City Council, has definitive opinions, listed in this article, on the election issues: the budget, race track admission, utility tax, etc.
Roy Speirs and Steve Worsley are running as a team in the upcoming election. Their publicly stated purpose is to form a coalition with Haltom and Dring to bring about tax reforms. Their initial goal will be to further reduce the utility tax, eliminate the sewer tax, reduce the number of employees and control salaries.
Jack Saelid has proposed a cap on the utility tax: when a yet-to-be-determined sum has accrued, collection would cease. City Attorney Charles Liberto will research and report on a possible ordinance.
Arcadia seeks to extend the right to collect cell phone usage tax. Officials plan to hold a special election in May or June in 2009 for a ballot measure. If communicated to voters correctly, it should pass, because it would not raise the tax but protect the city's revenues. At stake is about $1 million in yearly revenue. To do that, voters must allow the city to legally redefine what a telecommunications tax is. Recent court rulings have suggested cities cannot tax cell phone use by relying on older telecommunications tax ordinances.
Santa Anita Avenue carries 33,000 cars a day. If a train bridge is not built, the road will be blocked about every five minutes during rush hour. Measure A would allocate $8 million to build a Gold Line train bridge for the Gold Line extension. The bond measure would cost property taxpayers about $7 per year for every $100,000 of assessed valuation. Although the bond measure has many vocal supporters, this city has traditionally resisted new taxes.
Article outlines arguments for and against the two ballot measures raising the utility tax in order to restore school programs and prevent school closure.