Pass: 2,923 / 71.5% Yes votes ...... 1164 / 28.5% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

If Measure U is approved by a simple majority of the voters voting on the measure, then the amount of that tax (5%) would stay the same and the term would be extended for an additional eight (8) years through July 31, 2015. The utility user's tax would continue to be collected by each utility as part of the regular utility bill. If Measure U is approved and the City desires, in the future, to continue to charge that tax after July 31, 2015, then that extension would also be required to be presented to the voters at the regular municipal election (when council members are elected) which would be held on March 3, 2015.

The measure also revises the City's municipal code to eliminate references to the Federal Excise Tax in provisions governing the utility user's tax's application to telephone and cellular telephone services. The federal government recently changed its longstanding interpretation of the Federal Excise Tax, and at least one bill has been presented in Congress to repeal it altogether. The revision in the ordinance would ensure that the City's application of its utility user's tax on telephone and cellular telephone services would not be affected by changes in federal law. The revisions do not affect the tax rate, nor do they affect the scope of the tax. Adoption of this ordinance and its revisions to the code should not have a fi scal impact different from that of the previously approved tax.

If Measure U does not receive approval from a majority of the voters voting on it, then the City would no longer receive that approximately $2.221 Million Dollars of annual General Fund revenue.

City of South Pasadena

City Profile

• Repaid its sewer fund loan in full and provided for full repayment of its water fund loan by 2011.
• Undertaken the comprehensive repair of its aging and deteriorated municipal water system.
• Begun solving its critical traffic circulation problems with the re-paving of Mission Street and substantial portions of Garfi eld Avenue, the re-confi guring and signalization of Orange Grove between Columbia and the Pasadena Freeway, and the synchronization of signals on Fair Oaks.
• Through its Community Redevelopment Commission, initiated the revitalization of our downtown business district.

• City-wide three-minute police, fire fighter, and paramedic emergency response times.
• An extraordinary public library serving our entire community. (A city of neighborhoods unblighted by a 710 extension running from Alhambra to Pasadena.

YES, SOUTH PASADENA'S ON THE MOVE--and passage of Measure U is crucial to maintaining the progress we have worked so hard to achieve. We urge all South Pasadena residents to join us on March 6, 2007 in voting YES on Measure U--extending our 5% utility tax for eight more years and assuring continuity in the quality of all of the public services which we now enjoy.

/s/ Evelyn G. Zneimer, Parks and Recreation Commission

/s/ Philip C. Putnam, Mayor

/s/ Michael A. Cacciotti, Mayor Pro Tem

/s/ Harry A. Knapp, Former Mayor

/s/ James F. Anderson, Quality of Life Committee

Confusion: Proceeds from the Utility Users Tax (UUT) go into the City's general fund, one of many funds appearing in our budget. Water system upgrading, improvement of Garfield, Orange Grove and Fair Oaks, and downtown revitalization are funded partially or entirely by other sources, including user fees and grants. The UUT had little or nothing to do with funding these projects.

Scare Tactics: We've heard it before that our police, fire, and library will be the first to be eviscerated if the public doesn't pony up. Instead, why can't City Hall ask its legions of high priced consultants, lobbyists, and attorneys to share some of the pain with the taxpayers of South Pasadena?

IT IS TIME TO STOP THE CITY HALL SPENDING SPREE. PLEASE VOTE NO ON MEASURE U.

/s/ Robert J. Magilligan

Spiraling revenues and spending over the five fiscal year period ending June 30, 2007 have not improved the quality of life for the typical South Pasadena resident one iota. Total spending, including the CRA, according to our current city budget, has skyrocketed by almost $18 million, or approximately 70%, from about $25 million in 2002-2003 to over $43 million in the current fi scal year. Spending in one city fund, the "general fund," has mushroomed from about $14 million to about $18 million during this period. These staggering amounts (all coming from the pockets of us taxpayers at the local, state, and federal levels) have obviously not gone to repair our crumbling streets or sidewalks. Granted the water system was finally upgraded using vastly increased user fees, but city offi cials appear to have little to show for the millions of dollars lavished on their favorite interests.

Our City Council likes its lobbyists, consultants, and attorneys so much that no one at city hall seems to keep tabs on their fees. The budgets of nearly every city department are larded with line items for consultants, contractors and other professionals. However, looking at only the City Manager's budget, actual spending on attorneys, lobbyists, and consultants exceeded $1.3 million in the 2004-2005 fi scal year. Nobody knows just what this well compensated club has accomplished for us, but they certainly didn't get our potholes fi lled.

The City Council and its bureaucracy have lost touch with the financial realities facing South Pasadena's residents. IT IS TIME TO SEND THEM A WAKE UP CALL!

PLEASE VOTE NO ON MEASURE U.

/s/ Robert J. Magilligan

Voters need to read the opposition arguments carefully. Contrast what they say with the facts that-

• Since 2002-2003, the city's General Fund has grown annually by an average of just 5.7%.
• More than 55% of current year revenue is represented by (I) one-time grants obtained for congestion relief on Orange Grove and Fair Oaks and for improvements in the downtown business district and (II) user fees collected for urgently needed improvements to our municipal water system.
• Professional service fees, which peaked in 2004- 2005 (at the height of the city's fi ghts with Caltrans and the MTA Gold Line over the 710 freeway and light rail impact mitigation issues) are projected to be no more than 55% of the 2004-2005 figure. Maybe the fees didn't fill any potholes, but our freeway position is stronger than it has been in many years and Gold Line neighbors enjoy sounder sleep as a result of the efforts of our professionals.
• With careful budgeting, the City Council has been able to augment gas tax street improvement funds with $290,000 from the General Fund. And a significant sidewalk improvement project funded with grant monies has begun on Mission Street.

/s/ John Vandercook, Community Redevelopment Commission

/s/ Robert Weaver, Past President, South Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education

/s/ J. Stephen "Steve" Felice, Chairman, Quality of Life Committee

/s/ William F. Girouard, President, Altos de Monterey Homeowners Association

/s/ Ted R. Shaw, Former Mayor