Fewer shoppers were out the day after Christmas, a sign of the economy's current recession. Bargains and sales were everywhere, but people were not splurging. Sales data figures are given by SpendingPulse. (No space between Spending and Pulse)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed taking 8% of the property tax that cities receive. That would mean a loss of $1,202,358 for Arcadia. A chart shows how much other local cities may lose.
Home prices in California have dropped almost 42% from a year ago, November, as a glut of foreclosed homes drove first-home buyers to buy on the bottom end. Statewide, a single-family home cost a median price of $285,680. In Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley housing market is in bad shape. According to the California Association of Realtors, prices around the San Gabriel Valley ranged from lows of $256,000 in La Puente to highs of $692,500 in Arcadia, which saw a slight drop of only 4.8%, compared to last year.
The jobless rate in Los Angeles County jumped to 8.4% in October. Countywide, unemployment was up 33,000 in October to 415,000 people. Among San Gabriel Valley cities, Baldwin Park, El Monte and Montebello have the highest numbers of unemployed. A chart shows unemployment in other cities. Arcadia has 1,300, or 4.6% unemployed.
Los Angeles County's unemployment rate reached 9.9% in December, 2008, according to the California Employment Development Department (EDD). Arcadia's was 1,500, or 5.4% unemployment.
Public employees' retirement and pensions are costing cities up to 25% of the city budget. In March, CalPERS announced its stock portfolio had lost 39.8%. Costs for retirees are ballooning and El Monte and West Covina budgets have been hit hard from the recession. Arcadia, which had the fourth highest pension costs of the 24 cities surveyed, spent $6.7 million last year for its 357 current employees and retirees. The city's general fund budget is $46 million.