19,568 / 67.02% Yes votes ...... 9,630 / 32.98% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

The measure would supplement a stormwater parcel fee adopted by the City in 1995, which has never been increased. The current fee covers costs of the existing storm drainage system, but is insufficient to fund the Watershed Management Plan.

The proposed ordinance establishes an annual parcel tax of $84.00 ($7.00 per month) for each parcel with one single family detached residence. Rates for multi-family and commercial properties would vary depending upon parcel size and a "runoff factor" representing the amount of average storm drainage from a parcel for a particular land use category. The runoff factors and the formula to compute the parcel tax for multi-family, commercial and other property types are specified in the Ordinance. The rates are subject to annual increases based on the annual percent increase in a Consumer Price Index.

Tax proceeds would be deposited in a special fund that would be the subject of an annual report showing the amount of the tax collected and expended and the status of any projects funded with tax proceeds. The City Council would be required to establish a Citizen's Oversight Committee to audit use of tax proceeds.

Public agencies would be exempt from this special tax; qualifying non-profit institutions could seek exemptions. The City Council could also establish special exemption procedures and eligibility criteria for natural persons based on income, age or disability.

It is estimated that the parcel tax rate would raise annual revenues of approximately $2,350,000 to cover stormwater operations and maintenance costs as well as fund up to $40 million in capital projects over the next ten years. It is anticipated that Santa Monica would be able to use its local funding to leverage access to additional capital funds from federal, state and other funding sources for Plan implementation.

The complete text of the Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax Act is available from the City Clerk.

City of Santa Monica

• November 2006 Municipal Election Information
• Informacion en espanol sobre las elecciones del 7 de Noviembre, 2006

Ballot Measure Forum

• Tuesday September 19, 4:30-8:30pm - Santa Monica Main Library; 601 Santa Monica Bl; live "taping for broadcast on Santa Monica City TV

Santa Monica Daily Press

• Ballot bursting at the seams - 8/12/06

Sadly, rainstorms make Santa Monica's beautiful beaches look like trash dumps. All too often, the beaches in front of storm drains are teeming with fecal bacteria, posing a health risk to the millions of people who enjoy swimming and surfing along our shore.

Although Santa Monica has been a national leader in the fight against ocean pollution, we have not done enough to make our coast safe and healthy for beach visitors and sea life. There are new, stricter regulations adopted by the state that make the clean up of beach and ocean pollution a legal requirement, not just our moral obligation.

Santa Monica has adopted a progressive, innovative plan to clean up our polluted beaches and bay, improve flood control, augment our drinking water supply, and reuse treated runoff to irrigate the city's parks and open spaces. The Santa Monica Urban Watershed Management Plan was written and reviewed by some of the country's foremost experts in the field.

Measure V - The Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax - will provide the funds necessary to implement this innovative plan in a timely manner, with expert oversight on the City's allocation of funds.

Without voter approval of Measure V, Santa Monica will still have to provide the funds necessary to implement this plan to comply with State clean water standards, but the money will have to come from general funds at the expense of fundamental city services.

We urge you to VOTE "YES" ON MEASURE V, because a day at the beach should never make you sick.

Richard Bloom
Santa Monica City Councilman/Vice-Chair, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission

Mark Gold
Executive Director, Heal the Bay, Chair - Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment

Fran Pavley
Assemblymember - 41st District

Bobby Shriver
Mayor Pro Tempore

• The Stormwater Management Plan was developed with NO RESIDENT INPUT, no scientific analysis and no way to know if the bay will be clean enough to swim in after the money is spent.
• It's a classic "bait and switch"; Prop. V funds only ". . . a portion . . ." of the Plan; afterwards, we'll be locked into huge, planned increases in fees and charges.
• Once this $200+ million dollar development monster is unleashed, we'll still have to maintain it -- forever -- with additional taxes and fees.
• $6 million of it will be paying for an artificial "creek" at City Hall.
• $-Millions from the fund will go to narrowed streets and curb extensions - more traffic calming!
• $-Millions for Virginia Ave. Park, newly redesigned and just reopened, now slated for redesign yet again!
• The vast majority of stormwater that flows into the bay is polluted from areas outside of Santa Monica.
• The most environmentally responsible Southland residents-Santa Monica residents -- will be the ones paying for all of it!
• The plan offers no estimates of success-and no penalties for failure!
• Money spent on Prop. V won't be available for real bay clean-up efforts.

Santa Monica is using it's green reputation to sucker local voters. It's a Los Angeles AREA issue that demands REGIONAL solutions and REGIONAL revenues to manage a real clean-up effort.

We can't waste our precious financial resources and energies on feel-good environmentalism.

Everyone wants a cleaner Bay. Let's come up with a real plan where the polluters pay, not those working hardest to clean it up!

Vote NO on Prop. V.

Visit BaySmart.org

June J. Coleman
Former City of Santa Monica Recreation and Parks Commissioner

Don Gray
BaySmart.org

Peter Tigler
Former City of Santa Monica Charter Review Commissioner

Mathew L. Millen
Citizens Against Unfair Taxes

William A. Bauer
Citizens Initiative to Preserve the Piers