BELLFLOWER MAYOR ‘OPTIMISTIC’ THAT VOTERS WILL PASS UTILITY TAX INCREASE
By Herald American
Bellflower Mayor Ray Dunton says he believes voters will approve Measure A, which would temporarily increase the city’s utility tax by two percent—from the current 5 percent to 7 percent—when they go to the polls Nov. 2.
“I am very optimistic that once educated [about the fiscal circumstances], people will support it,” said Dunton, who supports the increase to enable Bellflower to deal with an estimated $1.4 million city budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending June 30.
Dunton stressed that the utility tax increase in Measure A would be in effect for only five years.
“It’s there in black and white. It would be illegal to assess the higher tax after five years. We would need another election to continue the increase,” Dunton added. “Bellflower has made great strides in recent years. We have momentum. We must not go backward.”
Measure A would increase the current 5 percent utility tax on gas, electricity and telephone bills by two percent for five years. It would exempt low-income households.
However, John Butts, who owns a roofing business in the city, said he fears a tax hike on local businesses will result in the loss of jobs for some of their employees. He said he also suspects that additional state and federal taxes are coming soon, possibly as early as next year.
The utility tax measure was placed on the ballot by a unanimous action of the City Council June 28.
1 Comment
funny that ” if taxes go up i’ll have to fire someone” is the default position rather than say “if taxes go up i’ll take less profit to help out the town i live in”