“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of 
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and 
controversy.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2016

VOLUME 10 NO. 3

SIERRA MADRE UTILITY USERS TAX 
ARGUMENTS AND ANALYSIS RELEASED

NEW EFFORT TO SAVE SIERRA MADRE’S 
HISTORICAL LANDMARKS BEGINS

By Susan Henderson

 When citizens of Sierra Madre go to the polls 
in April, in addition to selecting two council 
members, a city treasurer and a city clerk, there 
will also be a ballot measure to increase the 
existing Utility Users Tax in order to avoid a $1 
million budget shortfall. Previous attempts to 
pass similar measures have failed in the past, 
however this ballot measure is supported by the 
entire city council, a council which represents the 
city’s wide range of ideas on how the city should 
manage its finances. 

After an extensive educational outreach effort to 
residents last year along with a quite successful 
effort to allow residents to scrutinize the city’s 
finances, operations and plans and come up with 
solutions to balancing the budget, the drive to 
put the UUT on the ballot in 2016 was driven by 
the public. As one normally “anti anykind of tax” 
resident put it, “I will support this measure but 
city government should be on notice that they 
have to step up and govern wisely”. His concern 
is that without prudent fiscal management, the 
city might have to come back to residents in 
a few years. “They need to get their priorities 
straight. We must protect our Fire, Police, Water 
and Public Works, Unnecessary spending has 
to stop!” He did express a concern that the 
increase was not 12%, an amount that many feel 
will better stablize the city’s finances.

The office of the City Clerk released the official 
text of the Argument and Rebuttals for and 
against the measure along with the City 
Attorney’s Impartial Analysis. The contents are 
listed below:

IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS 
OF MEASURE UUT 
PREPARED BY THE CITY 
ATTORNEY 

Measure UUT is submitted to the voters by the 
Sierra Madre City Council to increase the current 
rate of the City’s Utility Users Tax and eliminate 
the existing “sunset” clause in order to generate 
and stabilize additional municipal revenues.

BACKGROUND

A utility users’ tax (UUT) is a tax levied 
on each user of a utility ( e.g. telephone, 
electricity, gas, water, wastewater, solid waste 
disposal, cable or video services) within the 
City’s boundaries. UUT revenues are paid into 
the City’s general fund and used to fund city 
services and programs, including library and 
public safety services. 

The City’s Utility Users’ Tax has been in 
force since at least 1993. In 2008, the voters 
approved an incremental increase in the UUT 
from 6% to 12%; however pursuant to City 
Council action, the UUT collection rate never 
exceeded 10%. The 2008 UUT legislation also 
included a “sunset clause” to reduce the rate from 
12% to 6% over time, decreasing the rate to 8% 
on July 1, 2015, and again decreasing it to 6% on 
July 1, 2016. 

The difference between a 10% UUT and a 
6% UUT is approximately $1,000,000 which 
means that at 6%, there will be approximately 
$1,000,000 less revenues for general fund 
purposes, such as library and public safety.

Eliminating the “sunset” clause is proposed to 
stabilize general fund revenues.

A UUT Oversight Conunittee was formed 
pursuant to the 2008 voter approved UUT 
measure. The Committee has tasked with 
verifying that the additional UUT revenues 
generated from the 2008 UUT measure would be 
used to fund public safety services. The Citizen’s 
Oversight Conunittee has determined that the 
cost of providing public safety services exceeds 
the amount ofUUT collected at 10%, thereby 
showing that the City uses the UTT to fund 
public safety services and that the service of the 
Citizen’s Oversight Conunittee has been fulfilled. 

THE MEASURE. 

Measure UUT WILL:

• Increase the existing 8% UUT tax to a 
maximum of 10% on July 1, 2015.

• Eliminate the “sunset clause” so that the 
UUT tax rate will be stabilized at 10%, subject to 
the City Council’s discretion to collect less than 
10%.

• Modify the existing exemption to apply 
to very low-income households.

• Eliminate the citizen oversight 
conunittee as its role has been fulfilled. 

Measure UUT WILL NOT:

• Tax access to the internet;

• Tax internet purchases and downloads, 
such as books, music, ringtones, games or 
similar digital products.

Measure UUT requires approval of a majority 
of voters. A “yes” vote for Measure UUT will 
approve the rate increase described above; a “no” 
vote will leave in place the City’s existing 6% 
Utility Users Tax Ordinance.

Teresa L. Highsmith 
Sierra Madre City Attorney 

The above statement is an impartial analysis 
of Ordinance or Measure UUT. If you desire a 
copy of the ordinance or measlll’e, please call the 
elections official’s office a(626) 355-7135 and at

copy will be mailed at no cost to you.

 
The Pinney House, one of Sierra Madre’s most coveted historical homes.

Photo MVNews Archives

Sierra Madre city government has initiated a 
new campaign to help homeowners of historical 
properties utilize the resources available to 
them under the Mills Act Program. The program 
was enacted as an 
economic incentive program 
in California for the 
restoration and preservation 
of qualified historic 
buildings by private property 
owners. 

Benefits include financial 
assistance with the cost of rehabilitation as long 
as the rehab efforts “occur prior to, or in conjunction 
with, the use of the Mills Act Contract 
and that it will not impair the architectural, 
historic or aesthetic integrity of the cultural resource 
substantial property.” 

Home owners are also eligible for substantial 
tax savings between 40% and 60% as long as the 
property owner commits to rehabilitating and 
maintaining “the historical and architectural 
character of their properties according 
to an approved rehabilitation 
and maintenance plan”

The new brochure details the program 
including describing what 
qualifies as historic properties and 
how to participate in the program.

For more information, contact the City of Sierra 
Madre Planning & Community Preservation 
Department 232 W. Sierra Madre Boulevard 
Sierra Madre, CA 91024 Phone: 626.355.7138

In Sierra Madre, historical 
preservation of private property 
is of great importance 
when trying to maintain 
the city’s history and village 
character.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF 
MEASURE UUT 

We respectfully ask that Sierra Madre’s 
citizens approve Measure UUT, which will 
set the Utility Users Tax (UUT) at 10% to 
maintain services that our citizens value and 
expect, and to keep Sierra Madre a full-
service city with its own Police, Fire, 
Paramedics, and Library. Measure UUT 
merely provides a sufficient and stable revenue 
source to maintain the current level of services. 

The city is now running a deficit of$529,000, 
which is 6% of expenditures. If Measure 
UUT is not approved, the deficit will increase 
to approximately $1,000,000 next fiscal 
year. The deficit is caused by the sunset of 
the 10% UUT which was the tax rate from 
fiscal years 2009/2010 through 2013/2014. 
The lost revenue cannot be made up by 
increases in property tax, sales tax, or 
other revenue sources. Sierra Madre is now 
spending reserves that were built through 
prudent fiscal management and will soon 
be forced to make severe reductions that will 
devastate recreational and community service 
programs, dramatically reduce library hours, 
compromise maintenance of facilities, and 
could result in outsourcing of one or more 
departments such as Police, Paramedic or 
Library. 

 The City Council recognizes that our citizens 
demand the most value for their tax dollars 
and have successfully implemented cost-
cutting initiatives since 2010 that have saved 
approximately $2,000,000. 

 The choice is to set the UUT at a 10% rate 
to preserve our city as we know it, or face 
devastating cuts where one or more major 
departments could be outsourced, or public 
works, public safety and community services 
are significantly curtailed. If Measure 
UUT fails, the nature and character of this 
safe, self-sustaining village will change for 
the worse. 

 Only you can keep Sierra Madre the very 
special community that it is. PLEASE VOTE 
YES on Measure UUT. 

John Capoccia, Mayor 
Gene Goss, Mayor Pro Tern 
Denise Delmar, Councilmember 
John Harabedian, Councilmember 
Rachelle Arizmendi, Councilmember

ARGUMENT AGAINST 
MEASURE UUT

The City council is attempting to increase 
the future UUT tax rate by 66 %. The rate is 
scheduled to be 6% effective July, 2016, and the 
City would like to raise the rate to 10%. The 
66% increase equates to increased taxes of$ 
1,000,000 on a City which has a population of 
approximately 11,000 citizens. We agree that 
our City needs to improve financially. The way 
to make change is not through additional taxes, 
but through prudent spending. Government 
cannot continue to increase taxes through fear. 

The City needs to look at the parts of the 
budget where change will make a difference. 
For example, 47% of the City’s general fund 
budget is allocated to public safety. A proposal 
has been brought to the City by the Los Angeles 
County Sheriff’s Department which will 
provide projected annual savings in excess of 
$700,000. The proposal will not only save the 
City money, but will provide increased security 
and patrol hours. The City is attempting to 
raise taxes before consideration of savings in 
the public safety budget. Savings are available 
in other departments, but the City has not 
pursued. 

Future tax increases needs to be restricted for a 
period of time with a defined purpose, or used 
for improvements to our infrastructure. Our 
first option should not be a permanent increase 
in taxes, with the revenue used for general 
operating expenses. 

Change is difficult, we all do it in our personal 
lives, and our City needs to do the same. We 
do not need more taxes, our City needs to be 
fiscally responsible, and spend our money 
strategically. 

Please VOTE NO ON MEASURE UUT. Let’s 
take a step back, and review our City budget, 
make the changes necessary, and retain Sierra 
Madre’s status as the crown jewel of the San 
Gabriel Valley.

Michael Amerio

Dave Mysza

Rick De La Mora

 

CALENDAR Pg. 2

SIERRA MADRE NEWS

 Pg. 3

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Pg. 5

PASADENA/ALTADENA

 Pg. 6

ARCADIA NEWS Pg. 7 
MONROVIA/DUARTE Pg. 7

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Pg. 8

BEST FRIENDS

 Pg. 9

HEALTHY & FOOD

 Pg. 10

THE GOOD LIFE

 Pg. 11

EFFORT TO ABOLISH UUT 
SLATED FOR 2018 BALLOT

THE ARTS

 Pg. 12

 As reported in this paper last week, a signature 
drive that produced the required 191 signatures and 
qualified a ballot measure to eliminate any Utility 
Users Tax in Sierra Madre, went before the city council 
on Tuesday. The council, in accordance with the state 
elections code was given several options on how and 
when to put the measure before voters. The council 
unanimously chose to, pursuant to EC Section 1405(b), 
submit the ordinance, without alteration, to the voters 
at the General Municipal Election to be held April 10, 
2018, and direct the City Clerk to cause publication of 
the entire text of the proposed ordinance in the sample 
ballot. 

 That measure is supported by the California Tax 
Limitation Committee.

BUSINES NEWS & TRENDS

 Pg. 13

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Pg. 14

OPINION

 Pg. 15

LEGAL NOTICES 
Pg. 17