Council members Suja Lowenthal and Steven Neal have placed an item on next Council meeting's agenda calling for the entire City Council to support a parcel tax being proposed by Los Angeles County staff. The parcel tax would be assessed on every property in LA County and would fund and establish an annual clean
Funds will be used by cities and the County in the same cities and watersheds where they are collected. The City public property is estimated to be assessed $1.6 million with this tax and the City is estimated to receive $5.1 million from the tax.
You need to know that the proposed tax has not been examined in detail by the City Council. We have not been given details why the amounts to be assessed were set at those levels and what other measures could be taken by LA County to clean up the storm water.
No one is against clean water. What I find objectionable is that without examination of this tax and discussion about what other measures could be taken to clean up the storm water problem without taxing residents and businesses and government, the City Council is being encouraged to jump on board a proposal "as is."
Additionally, what was not disclosed in this council agenda item is the fact that our own LA County Supervisor Don Knabe and the Long Beach Unified School District are opposed to the measure.
I say wait until the LA County Board of Supervisors holds its public meeting on this issue on January 15th before the Council votes. We need to hear the input of our residents. We also need to find out what the final version of this proposal actually will be if placed before the voters. We really need to know what we are doing before we jump on this bandwagon.
Before you answer my poll on this item, you need to read several documents that explain what is being proposed by LA County and being asked for support by two council members.
Click here to read these important documents. Council agenda item, FAQ about proposal, Notice of proposed tax.
Click on this quick poll to let me know what you think:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/poll/a07e6v0i8oshbh381zn/start.html
Sincerely,
Gerrie
Gerrie Schipske
P.S. LA County Board of Supervisors will hold a public meeting to listen to residents about this proposed tax at 9:30 a.m. in the
Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
A Notice of Public Hearing has been mailed to all property owners within the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. At the public hearing, the Board of Supervisors will receive oral and written testimony about the proposed clean water fee. Any property owner may testify or file a written protest with the Executive Officer of the Board of Supervisors at any time before the end of the public hearing. A written protest must identify the parcel address and assessor's parcel number, and must be signed by the property owner or an authorized representative.
Letters may be addressed to:
Executive Officer
Board of Supervisors
P.O. Box 866006
Los Angeles, CA 90086
