Voters max out Arcadia sales tax. Huge lead for Measure A pushes levy to 10.25% ceiling set by state. The election was conducted exclusively by mail. The vote was for a .75% sales tax increase to bring the tax from 9.5% to 10.25%. This hike could bring in $8.6 million annually to keep city services, especially public safety, at current levels.
How Measure A is expected to affect Arcadia. Arcadia City Council will put a sales tax increase of 3/4 percent on this year's June ballot. The added sales tax would be added to the city's income to benefit the current deficit.
Arcadia residents pass Measure A by significant majority. It is a 3/4 cent sales tax increase, passed with 63.94% of the vote in Tuesday's mail-in ballot. The increase will provide locally controlled funds to maintain Arcadia's public safety and other city services. See Also Mountain Views News, June 8, 2019, p. 7.
Arcadia voters consider extending hotel-room tax in the ballot Measure D. It is meant to close a loophole in a city ordinance on the transient tax. Currently, the city imposes a tax rate of 10% of the rent paid by guests to occupy a room up to 30 consecutive days. If the measure passes by a majority vote, the occupancy tax would be imposed the first 90 days of a stay.
Arcadia voters will decide, in a special election next week, whether or not to approve ballot Measure A, which seeks to protect the city's right to collect taxes on cell phone usage. Measure A would not raise any taxes. The city already collects taxes on residential cell phone usage and is seeking to legally protect that practice by redefining what constitutes a telecommunications tax.
Arcadia voters have approved ballot Measure A with 2091 people voting yes and 643 voting no. The measure protects the city's right to collect taxes on cell phone use. Measure A will not raise taxes.
What does Measure A mean for Arcadia? According to Arcadia Citizen's Fiscal Advisory Committee Final Report, additional revenue is required to maintain city services at current levels. If the 3/4 cent sales tax Measure A fails to pass, it could mean eliminating up to 13 police and 10 firefighter and/or paramedic positions, and other cuts to other service areas, like Public Works, Recreation, and the Library.
Ballot measure aims to repeal Arcadia's utility tax. The current tax adds 7% to bills for water, electricity and natural gas and 5% for telecommunications for both residential and commercial customers. If approved, city services will be downgraded significantly. It would eliminate 12.5% of Arcadia's budget.
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.
Arcadia City Council takes steps to increase public safety. On October 16, City Council discussed a recommendation to add a measure to the ballot containing a ¾-cent sales tax, which is needed to help Arcadia with its current financial woes. The Citizens Financial Advisory Committee reviewed the city’s expenditures and asked the council to declare a state of fiscal emergency as soon as possible and no later than June 2019. The vote to add the measure passed almost unanimously, with one council member recusing themself from the vote.
City of Arcadia to place three measures on November 8, 2022 ballot. 1. Proposed City Charter Amendment Measure. The City Charter was last amended in 1998. The citizen-led Charter Review Committee recommends updates to mirror changes in state laws since 1998 and to reflect current local government standards, to include a) mirroring changes in state laws to increase voter turnout by moving the date of regularly scheduled city council elections from April in even-numbered years to the November Statewide General Election in even-numbered years. b) recognizing the city's change to by-district elections as required by California Voting Rights Act. c) Creating a rotation of mayor and mayor pro tem positions every 9.5 months to allow all council members to serve during their term. d) Change position of City Clerk from elected to appointed. e) other amendments to streamline government, utilize technology and increase transparency. 2. Two measures to increase locally controlled funding. One measure would increase Arcadia's local tax on stays at hotels and motels from 10% to 12%--similar rate to many neighboring cities. The other measure would enact a local tax on sports wagers if sports betting becomes legal in California through State Proposition 26, also on the November ballot
Measure A seeks to repeal utility users tax in Arcadia, on the April 12 ballot. The utility users tax is a source of revenue expected to generate $7 million for the city this year. Arcadia charges residents 7% for gas, water, and electricity, and 5% for telephone on utility bills. The city estimates each household pays less than $10 per person per month on average. The tax is 12.5% of the city's $54.9 million general fund budget. If repealed, it would mean a 12.5% cut to city services, including cutting 12 police officers, closing a fire department, increasing blight, street sweeping would be reduced from weekly to every other week. Programs for children and seniors would be eliminated and library and museum hours would be reduced significantly. Larry Papp helped author the initiative.
Online company Expedia has pulled out of the Arcadia, CA marketplace because of the recently approved Measure D, which adds a 10 percent hotel occupancy tax to services provided by online travel companies.
Unanimous Arcadia City Council acts to place local funding measure, known as the “Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure” on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other city services. City staff and the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee have indicated Arcadia has a multi-million dollar structural deficit.
Arcadia teachers and students unite for Measure A, the renewal of a parcel tax that helps provide stable school funding for Arcadias, on March 7 ballot. Previously approved in 2012, Measure A would authorize a "qualified special tax of $288 per parcel of taxable real estate property," an increase of $60 over the 2012 proposal. Citizen homeowners age 65 and over would be able to exempt their primary residence from the tax.
Measure A makes waves. The debate on repealing the Utility User's Tax (UUT) is coming to a head. Measure A is opposed by City of Arcadia workers. It is supported by Larry Papp and California Tax Limitation Committee, backed by TeaPAC, part of the Tea Party's Tax Revolt. See hard copy in VF Arcadia-City Council-Elections-2016.
Competing measures will go to voters in May. Measure A, sponsored by Manny Romero, the owner of Rod's Grill, would prohibit automobile sales in an area bounded by Santa Anita Avenue, Huntington Drive, and Morlan Place for twelve years. Measure B would allow auto sales and related uses on the block and contains a provision to eliminate eminent domain as a tool to acquire property for future development in downtown area.
Arcadia will benefit from the State Municipal Advisory Reform Team : Enhanced Report (SMARTER) plan for restructuring local government finance which will help stop the city's dependence on sales tax.
Inflation and the energy shortage are causing the city management grave concern about meeting the budget. City Manager Lyman Cozad expects a $120,500 increase in sales tax from Fashion Park for the 1974-75 fiscal year. He also expects an $84,000 rise in property taxes.