There will always be a handful of residents who demonize city government for the use of “bureaucratese and legal jargon” (see the letter from Maria Harris “Taxation vexation,” August 10, 2012). The cynical, potentially destructive opinions of the Signal First might be a reflection of tough economic times. However, I can see no good reason to jeopardize the decades of hard work and careful management to develop today’s city services with their so-called “Know and Vote” petition. The petition would subject all City fees and taxes to a supermajority vote and eliminate all City fees and taxes in 10 years. I can’t believe that this reflects the opinion of the typical hard-working resident of Signal Hill.
You won’t find me disappointed in Signal Hill. I am NOT dissatisfied with our City services. I AM grateful for the stability and leadership that our city provides in these tough times. My appreciation for our police department is at an all-time high, as is my gratitude for our fire department, paramedics and other municipal services that we take for granted each day. As this excellent service has been developed and refined over the decades, I have found the fees and taxes acceptable as my fair-share contribution to maintain our community’s quality of life and safety.
Ms. Harris’s letter is critical of local residents allowing the County Sanitation District to assume ownership and maintenance of our local sewers. The District has been providing excellent services, reliably and safely for the past nine years. Ms. Harris blames current State law which regulates fee increases and then intonates that their petition will “improve” this system. Intentionally misstating known facts is at best disingenuous, but I for one am just tired of “facts” being manipulated for self-serving political grandstanding.
For the record, I received easy-to-read/understand information on the sewer change, attended workshops [and] public hearings and participated in the vote in 2003. I believe that the District mailed out letters to over 2,000 property owners and businesses informing them of the change and their right to vote on the change.
The current system is working with success, satisfaction, and stability. Our sewer fees, like the rest of our City fees, are among the lowest in the region. At the May 15 public hearing, a sewer fee increase of $.50 per month was approved. After public posting and hearing no protest, votes were received regarding the increase. Ms. Harris’s “Know and Vote” petition, though possibly well intentioned, is reckless and unnecessary, as fees and taxes are regulated by State laws designed to protect the public.
I am NOT signing the Signal Hill First petition and thoughtlessly jeopardizing the quality of life in Signal Hill. I strongly urge residents to reject signing this petition, and I encourage those who may have already signed this petition to request that their signatures be withdrawn.
Thomas R Benson
Signal Hill
Disclosure: Benson is a member of the Signal Hill Planning Commission
Mr. Benson is a trusting soul, apparently with lots of extra cash to throw around.
Here is an example of a brand NEW PROPERTY FEE being proposed by the City Council, through a political technique that I consider to be far from straight forward and honest.
The City paid its City Attorney about $1,500,000 in ONE YEAR, which according to council member Larry Forester, “was worth every penny”.
Signal Hill lost its lawsuit and was ordered by the Court to clean up and repair its STORM DRAINS which were polluting the beaches.
Last year, according to a written City Report, the City spent about One Million Dollars making storm drain repairs. Ouch! And the City Report states that this is just the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of future costs.
So now that One Million Dollars a year will now have to be spent on Signal Hill’s share of Storm Drains, year, after year, with no end in sight. And it is projected these costs will GO UP, not down.
Even though the City can brag that it has a “balanced budget”, 6 months of operating cash in “reserve”, and about 4 to 5 Million Dollars in its savings account, the City Council decided that the TAXPAYERS, not the City, had to pick up the cost for storm drain repairs in the future.
*According to the County, the County Engineer can raise the tax you will pay every year by as much as he wants – WITHOUT VOTER APPROVAL.
BUT THERE WAS A POLITICAL PROBLEM FACING OUR CITY COUNCIL.
AN ELECTION IS COME UP IN MARCH 2013, and three members of the City Council who are up for re-election, do not want voters in Signal Hill, to have to VOTE FOR A TAX INCREASE on the SAME BALLOT where they are running for re-election. The solutions….hid the proposed tax increase on the County Ballot!
To accomplish the task of making the TAXPAYER PICK UP THE COSTS, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors got a fancy Public Relations Report that says “taxpayers like to have “clean water and clean beaches”, and a
ballot THAT USES TERMS like: “Clean Water, Clean Beaches” will make taxpayers more likely to VOTE TO PAY THE COST OF STORM DRAIN REPAIRS. ”
The County encouraged ALL CITIES to send their SHARE OF COSTS FOR STORM DRAIN REPAIR to LOS ANGELES COUNTY, who will place the “Clean Water, Clean Beach” TAX INCREASE on the COUNTY BALLOT.
In return, the City gets a financial “kick back” from the County of several hundred thousands of dollars, every year, never ending, because the “Clean Beach, Clean Water” tax proposal DOES NOT HAVE A “SUNSET CLAUSE”, which would stop the tax from going on forever.
Those running for re-election benefit in THREE ways.
First, they can run for re-election and “technically” say THEY DID NOT PROPOSE a new TAX, it is a County Measure.
Second, the City can use the “kick back” from LOS ANGELES COUNTY to borrow money for other projects, making the TAXPAYER NOT THE CITY, responsible for paying off the loan.
Third, the shift of the cost to TAXPAYERS frees up $1 million a year in general funds for other projects, like a new library or developer subsidies.
All of these facts are in the Staff Reports posted on-line. But readers will have to weigh through dozens of pages of legal “mumbo-jumbo” to get to the simple fact that the City Council VOTED TO MAKE PROPERTY OWNERS PAY instead of using City’s funds.
It is a tax increase, pure and simple.
Carol Churchill
Former Mayor City of Signal Hill