Initiative
Published Initiative - San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 22, 2019
NOTICE OF INTENT TO CIRCULATE PETITION
Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to circulate a petition within the City of West Covina for the purpose of increasing the sales tax payable in the City to ten and a quarter percent (10.25%) which is a three-quarter percent (0.75%) increase from the existing nine and a half percent (9.50%) charged in the City as of July 1, 2019. The Increase would be for the general fund for such general city services as funding for the City Police and Fire Departments.
A statement of the reason of the proposed action as contemplated in the petition is as follows:
1) Funding for the City of West Covina General Fund for expenditures such as Police, Fire and their First-Responder services, personnel, pensions, and other employee benefits are at risk due to the cyclical economic woes faced by the City of West Covina and other municipalities; this dedicated sales tax increase would be for the general fund of the City of West Covina for the general fund purposes like preservation of stable and ongoing sales tax revenue funding for crucial police, fire and first-responder personnel and services for the citizens of the City of West Covina.
2) This sales tax funding would fortify the City of West Covina general fund and its large general fund expenditures, like it’s Police and Fire Departments and benefit the City of West Covina, including public safety and be monitored by an oversight board, committee, or such other ad hoc body of the City of West Covina Audit Board/Committee with the proposed appointees from the community serving to oversee the appropriateness of these general fund expenditures incident to this sales tax increase.
3) Nineteen other cities in Los Angeles County have the proposed 10.25% sales tax rate and the increase sought in this initiative would ensure the three-quarter percent increase (0.75%) is funded to the City of West Covina general fund for such general fund service expenditures that ensure the sanctity of public safety for City of West Covina citizenry and general fund sales tax funding for critical resources for the City of West Covina, such as its City Police and Fire Departments.
Glenn Joseph Kennedy
1321 West Randall Way
West Covina, CA 91790
INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY TO THE VOTERS
The City Attorney has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:
PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS (SALES) AND USE TAX
The current effective sales and use tax in the City of West Covina is 9.5%. Of this, 1% goes to the City and the remainder funds state and county expenses.
State law authorizes the City of West Covina to adopt a transactions (sales) and use tax to fund municipal expenses. Such a tax is administered by the state, and generally would be collected along with the existing sales and use taxes. The ordinance imposing such a tax must be approved by the City Council and by the voters in order to be effective.
This initiative ordinance, self-titled the “City of West Covina Public Safety Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance” would establish a three-quarters of one percent (0.75%) transactions (sales) and use tax in the City, proceeds of which would be deposited in the City’s general fund and available for lawful municipal purposes. The initiative ordinance would also replace the City’s existing Finance & Audit Committee with a new nine-member Oversight Committee composed of six members of the public (two of who must be employees of the City’s police and fire departments) and three elected officials of the City.
Thomas Duarte
City Attorney
City of West Covina
Dated: July 18, 2019
(Published: San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 22, 2019 – Page 2)
Editorial Points of Interest:
Provided here is the published initiative to place a measure on the March 2020 Presidential Primary Ballot for the City of West Covina Sales and Use Tax Increase. These notes are some things you should read and focus on.
1) This initiative is being funded by the two Public Safety Unions from the City of West Covina to provide funding for employee benefits and personnel. That is listed in paragraph number one to the left. They reiterate the purpose is for "revenue funding for crucial police, fire and first-responder personnel and services..."
2) They claim that an "Oversight Board" will be "monitoring" the spending of the tax money but elude to the Finance & Audit Committee. The problem is that the initiative effectively eliminates that committee as the City Attorney points out in his impartial analysis. So in reality that is not accurate based on the attorney's remarks. What they are trying to do is stack an 'Oversight Board' with three elected officials and two people from the police and fire departments so that five members of a nine-member board can control the voting results of the oversight board and authorize all requested spending.
Police and Fire are trying to push a tax measure on the City of West Covina residents under the guise of putting the money into the General Fund, but then stacking the proposed oversight board with people who will let them spend the money how they want to spend it. This is not financial reform, it is stealing from the hard working people of West Covina.
Who can say "Let's let the Fox guard the Hen House?"
Do not be fooled into believing this is needed for the City of West Covina. We may need more revenue, but this is not the way to get it. We give up the vary controls the State of California Audit found to be deficient in the City of West Covina if we support this measure.