SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2019 

VOLUME 13 NO. 30

Find a lender & get pre-approvedChoose an agent.
Choose a house & make an offer.
Schedule an inspection.
The lender schedules an appraisal.
Negotiate any repairs requested after 
receiving the inspectors report.
Sign escrow instructions.
Sign loan documents.
Conduct a final walk-through within 
five days of closing escrow.
The loan funds & the deed is recorded.
Collect keys from agent.
Move in.
Jan Greteman 626.975.4033jan@jangreteman.com 
jangreteman.com #01943630 
Judy Webb-Martin 626.688.2273jwmartin@dppre.com #00541631Katie Orth 626.688.0418korth@dppre.com #00942500The 
Homebuying 
ProcessWho We are:
Residents & business owners 
of Sierra Madre selling real estate 
since 1975 & proudly giving back 
to the community.
Your Story.
Your Home.
Your Team.
Together Stronger.
30 N. Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre 91024Contact Us for a FREEProperty Assessment.
THEWEBB-MARTIN GROUP
DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES REJECT PROPOSED TAX 

REDUCTION AND REVISED DISTRICT BOUNDARIES

The final results are in. Efforts by the city to 
form a new Assessment District to what city 
staff and consultants believed would be of great 
benefit to downtown businesses and consumers 
has failed to gather the required support from 
business owners.

By state law, any effort to alter existing taxes require 
a vote by those in the impacted area. For 
Sierra Madre’s business district, that involved 
seeking approval from almost 200 business 
owners, many of whom do not live in Sierra 
Madre.

In May, the city began the Prop 218 process 
which sent ballots to all within the proposed 
assessment district. Of the nearly 200 ballots, 
only 98 were returned. Of those completed 
ballots returned, those approving the changes 
numbered 42, however those opposing the 
changes numbered 46 so the effort did not pass. 

The City currently has four existing special assessment 
districts which finance various services 
and improvements including parking, lighting, 
landscaping, and associated maintenance 
within the Central Business District area of the 
City. Each of the four districts was established 
to fund the cost of improvements and maintenance 
of specific benefits in the downtown district, 
however, two of the districts do not collect 
enough funds and are subsidized by expenditures 
from the General Fund. The remaining 
two districts collect sufficient revenue for the 
benefit provided and have accumulated a fund 
balance of $595,000. 

City staff has identified the need to correctly 
balance the amount of revenue collected within 
the district(s) with necessary expenditures. 
If formed, the new District would pay for the 
maintenance of the landscaping and lighting 
improvements put in place by these existing 
assessment districts and fund the implementation 
and associated maintenance of additional 
similar improvements nearby. The new district 
would collect $22,676 less than the current combined 
collection of the four existing districts.

On March 26, 2019, the City Council adopted 
Resolution 19-09 initiating proceedings required 
to begin the formation process for the 
District by directing that an Engineer's Report 
be prepared. Subsequently, another City Council 
meeting was held on May 14, 2019, where 
Resolution 19-20 was adopted to approve the 
Engineer's Report and set the date of the public 
hearing for the formation of the District. On 
May 22, 2019, assessment ballots were mailed to 
the property owners within the proposed District's 
boundary, to vote for or against the formation 
of the District. 

To assist the City in proceeding with the formation 
process for the District, the City hired NBS 
Government Finance Group ("NBS"). NBS has 
prepared the Engineer's Report for the District, 
which provides a description of the improvements, 
the estimated costs of improvements, a 
diagram for the District, and the District assessment 
roll containing the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 
assessment for each parcel within the District. 
NBS has worked with the City Attorney to ensure 
recommendations will meet local, state, 
and federal regulations including compliance 
with Proposition 218 and appropriate assessment 
district regulations. NBS has handled the 
noticing and protest ballot process, and will 
submit the appropriate materials to Los Angeles 
County by the Fiscal Year 2019-20 property assessment 
deadline.

The final count was confirmed and accepted by 
the city council. The existing assessment district 
and tax structure will remain. MVNews

2019 SUmMer OF SIerRA MAdReCOnCerTs IN ThE PArKjUNe 2Nd - pASadENa coMmUNitY orChEStRaJUne 23Rd - sIeRrA mADre muSIc co.
JunE 30tH - DecADes of roCkjuLy..7tH - SgT. PEpPerSJUlY 14Th - PAt O'BriEN ANd ThE PrIeStS OF LOveJUlY 21St - A VErY SpECiAl SUrPriSE GUesTJUlY 28Th - CAsH UP FrONtaUGusT 4Th - coRI caBlE kiDdER as paTsY cLinEaUguSt 1..tH - ThE SkINnY TIesAll concerts are FREE and held from 6:00pm to 8:00pm inMemorialParkBandshellat232W.SierraMadreBlvd.
Seatingisonthegreen. 
Alcohol is prohibited.Besuretobringblankets and lawnchairs.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT 
COMMUNITYSERVICESDEPARTMENTAT626-355-5278SPONSORED BY PASADENA COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA,
THE TALENT OF SIERRA MADRE MUSIC CO. &
THE SIERRA MADRE CIVIC CLUBSPONSORED BY KIWANIS & FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY, 
SIERRA MADRE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION,
THE WEBB-MARTIN GROUPTHE SIERRA MADRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONSPONSORED BY THE ROTARY CLUB & 
THE SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNITY COMMISSIONPRESENTED BY THE KENSINGTON
SAVE THE DATE

AUGUST 6, 2019

Last year the Sierra Madre Police Department 
deployed teams that visited 
individual block parties within the 
city. Your participation was well received 
citywide, making the evening 
very successful. All teams rotated 
each event to ensure that all residents 
could meet the entire department 
without leaving their party!

If you are part of a Neighborhood 
Watch team, please contact your block captain or if you are not part 
of a team, you can contact me so we can accommodate your block 
party. The date again is, Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 5:00PM. 

We are looking forward to visiting neighborhoods throughout the 
city on another fantastic National Night Out!

For more information, please feel free to contact:

CSO Lou Oronoz @ 626/355-4596 or loronoz@cityofsierramadre.
com with any questions. 


SIERRA MADRE EMERGENCY 

SIREN NOTIFICATION PROGRAM

To ensure the reliability of the Emergency Siren Notification Program, 

Testing of the Emergency Siren will occur on the last Tuesday of each 
month at noon. 

Next Test:

July 30, 2019 - Noon 

The Siren will be sounding for a few minutes to monitor its functions 
and effectiveness. 

GET A ONE-RING CALL? 

DON’T CALL BACK.

A while back, the public was warned you about the “one ring” scam. That’s when you 
get a phone call from a number you don’t know, and the call stops after just one ring. 
The scammer is hoping you’ll call back, because it’s really an international toll number 
and will appear as a charge on your phone bill — with most of the money going to the 
scammer. Well, the scam is back with a vengeance, and the FCC just issued a new advisoryabout 
it. Read the FCC’s advisory for more detail, but the advice from both agencies 
remains the same if you get one of these calls:

• Don’t call back

• Report the robocall to the FTC at www.donotcall.gov and to the FCC at www.
fcc.gov/complaints

• Always check your phone bill for suspicious or unusual charges

A CALL FOR ARTISTS!

CITY HALL ART SHOW

Are you a local artist looking to display some of your 
work?

ABOUT CITY HALL ART SHOWS

In an effort to promote the professional development 
of local artists and their work, the Community Services 
Commission and Arts Review Board features a 
rotating calendar of visual art shows at City Hall. Local 
artists are invited to submit samples of work for review 
and possible inclusion for future exhibits. Shows 
run for 6 to 8 weeks. The exhibits may be viewed during 
business hours, Monday through Thursday from 
7:30am-5:30pm, at Sierra Madre City Hall, 232 W. Sierra 
Madre Blvd.

If you are interested in submitting your art work 
please email samples to: Clarissa Lowe - CLowe@
CityOfSierraMadre.com. Should you have additional 
questions, please contact the Community Services 
Department at (626) 355-5278 for more information.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com