There will be no summer school in the Arcadia Unified School District due to the passage of Proposition 13 limiting property taxes to 1 percent of the assessed valuation.
The hearing by the Planning Commission on the Anoakia property has been put off until a later date. Some specifics of what Mr. McCaslin will seek when the hearing is scheduled are given.
Water rates in Arcadia will be lowered by $.04 per 100 cu Ft effective July 1, 1979. The burden of the water tax, now split 50% each by the city and property owners, will fall 100% on property owners. However, the increased property tax is tax deductible.
A $9 million budget has been proposed for 1975-76. City manager Lyman Cozad feels that no tax increase will be necessary due to the higher valuation of city property.
Overall enrollment for the Arcadia schools was down by 470 on the first day of classes. The drop in enrollment coupled with Prop. 13 has resulted in a very small number of new teachers this year.
For the fourth year Arcadia property tax rate has been set at $.94 per $100.00 assessed valuation. This is the lowest it has been since 1914 when it was $.60 The highest rate was $1.98 in 1945.
City Manager Lyman Cozad is assuming that there will be a 25% increase in assessed valuation which should make budgeting easier for 1976-77, but will not result in a lower tax rate.
Parents with children in the EMR (Educable Mentally Retarded) program in the Arcadia schools have written letters to the state, county and local school officials outlining the difficulties EMR teachers are having controlling their students without help from aides (lost due to Prop. 13).
An Arcadia man who didn't like a group of church Christmas carolers singing on his front lawn, brandished a gun at the group and threatened to kill them unless they got off his property. Police surrounded his house for an hour before he surrendered.
In a surprise move, 2 members of the Arcadia Board of Education announced that they will not run for re-election next year. Carol Papay, an 8-year member and currently board chairwoman, and Donald Fickas, a 13-year member, both said they will step down to allow interested individuals the opportunity to consider running for their seats.
The suit brought against Arcadia by the People's Advocate, Inc. and the Arcadia Tax Reform Committee will include all taxes and charges imposed or increased by the city in the wake of Proposition 13. Article gives outline, list of plaintiffs and defendants.
Supervisor Schabarum joined with two other board members asking Assessor Alexander Pope to mail out property tax re-evaluation notices immediately so people will know before June 6 primary and they vote on Propositions 13 and 8.