We would like Arcadia Chamber members to let us know whether they would like their Chamber to take a position on the proposed repeal of all utility user taxes, and, if so, what position you think should be taken. Details of the measure are below. Please click here to answer three yes/no questions about whether/how you would like to see Arcadia Chamber respond to this. Arcadia Chamber member UUT repeal survey. (If this link takes you to last/third question, just click on “Previous” button to get to Questions 1 & 2.)
The Arcadia City Council voted October 6, 2015 to put a measure on the ballot in the April election that would ask voters to decide if they want to eliminate the Utility Users Tax that generates $7 million in revenue for the City – the tax, which both residential and commercial utility customers pay each month, adds 7 percent to bills for water, electricity and natural gas and 5 percent for telecommunications.
The measure was presented by Lawrence Papp, an 86 year-old Arcadia resident for more than 50 years who gathered the required 400 signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. Dominic Lazzaretto cautioned that repealing the tax would eliminate . This would lead to staff reductions and cancel infrastructure improvement projects.
Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto presented a PowerPoint describing the history and current UUT and suggesting two potential options for severe cutbacks in city services if the measure is approved and the city suddenly loses the third largest revenue source for the City – 12.5 percent of Arcadia’s budget.
That PowerPoint is available by clicking here: uut_powerpoint_10-6-16
