Enormous cut backs, reduced operating hours, and admission fees are all being contemplated as solutions to keeping the Arboretum going in the face of Proposition 13 caused revenue losses.
The Arcadia City Council approved a 6% hike in building fees, such as building permits, conditional use permits, and request for modifications. The increase, set for November 17, will be used to offset the 6% salary hike that city employees received in the 1989-90 budget.
Beginning October 1, Arcadians will pay more for their water. The increase will be in two steps. The first will be an increase of 6% per 100 cubic feet. The second will be dependent on possible increases in the Edison rates for pumping.
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.
111 City Hall employees may earn an extra $50-110 a month by walking, bicycling, carpooling, or using public transportation to work. The City Council approved the plan to satisfy South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations requiring worksites to provide incentives to employees who reduce vehicle trips to work.
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.
A discussion of the proposed changes in high school graduation requirements. Proposed changes include an increase from 2 to 3 years of English and a minimum of 1 year of U.S. history rather than the 3 quarters now required.
Area librarians agree that recessionary periods create a greater demand for library services. It is ironic that this comes at a time when libraries are hurting from budget cuts. Arcadia and Monrovia have suffered most in this regard, cutting down on personnel and new book purchases and, in Arcadia's case, closing it's audio-visual department and reducing hours.
With the passage of the Rodda Bill, teachers must be represented by a single bargaining agent. Undoubtedly, unions will merge. The Rodda Bill allows bargaining on: wages, hours and working conditions which take some jurisdiction from the School Board.
Area dropout rates for Arcadia Unified School District showed a 50% increase during the past five years. The latest figures are reportedly inaccurate because of a district reporting error.
Though Arcadia Unified School District has had to cut back on employees due to lack of money from the state, it will soon hire and elementary school counselor thanks to some imaginative use of state grant money.
Plans to add a Nordstrom Department Store to Santa Anita Fashion Park received a set-back when the Arcadia Planning Commission voted down a request to reduce the required number of parking spaces at regional shopping centers.
Arcadia ranks at the top among US cities with the highest-paid employees, yet charges its residents less for municipal services and receives less aid than most California cities of similar size. No other US city outside California with a population between 10,000 and 50,000 pays its employees more; the average city employee earns $32,767 per year.
The first reading of a water conservation ordinance was undertaken at the City Council meeting June 8. Five phases of the measure are given. Water rates will increase $.06 per 100 cubic feet as of August 1.