El Segundo Flyer #1: Vote “NO” on Measure A – Eleven Tax Hikes in One Measure!

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org

April 7, 2014

Three flyers containing verifiable factual information about Measure A were distributed to residents and small businesses on the weekend of April 5, 2014.

Click on each of the links below to view, download, and print them. Please share them with your friends and neighbors in case they did not get all of them.

Flyer #1: Vote “NO” on Measure A – Eleven Tax Hikes in One Measure! – Distributed on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (119 KB PDF file)

Flyer #2: 36 MORE REASONS TO VOTE NO ON MEASURE A – Distributed on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (206 KB PDF file)

Flyer #3: Vote “NO” on Measure A, and Against BILL FISHER! – Distributed on Sunday, April 6, 2014. (168 KB PDF file)

Below is the content of Flyer #1, with some increased detail, and some added links documenting the facts contained in the flyer.

YOU MUST VOTE April 8 to STOP IT. All of this information comes from official City of El Segundo public record documents. For more info and proof, see PublicSafetyProject.org.

Background

• Estimated $6.6 million Cost to Residents and Businesses each year in first 3 years
• Permanent Tax Hikes – No Sunset Clause (Expiration Date) – Council Members Fuentes and Jacobson requested one, but Fisher, Atkinson and Fellhauer refused
• All Eleven Tax Hikes were bundled together as a single measure, denying us a choice to approve or disapprove specific taxes
• Amount of each Utility Tax automatically increases as utility rates increase
• Residents will Pay Much More than estimates from “Yes on A” campaign
• All Residents will pay the Business Tax Increases that are passed on to us as customers, and Most or All of the new taxes will go to Pay Raises as in the past

Details

• Creates four NEW 2.5% Utility Users Taxes (UUTs) on RESIDENTSElectricity, Water, Gas, and ALL types of “Communication Services”
• Nearly DOUBLES four existing BUSINESS UUTs – increases Electricity, Water, and Gas taxes to 5.5% and Communication Services taxes to 4.5%
• Increases Business License Tax (BLT), Increases Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 8% to 10%, and Creates a NEW 10% Parking Tax
• Communication Services UUT taxes all charges on landline, cellular, pager, Internet, cable TV, and satellite bills, for all communication of voice, text, data, audio, video, and any other information or signals, using any existing or future technology (ESMC 3-7-1)

Real and Better Solutions

• Stop giving Unions and Managers 11.25% to 32.3% in pay raises over three years as was done during the Great Recession while Redondo Beach cut compensation 6%
• Save $3.3 Million per Year: Require Employees to Pay Half the total Pension Contributions
• Save several Million more per Year: Eliminate automatic additional yearly 5% “Step” Raises, “Longevity” Raises, and “Special Compensation” for things that are existing job requirements or unrelated to the job

Don’t be Fooled by Empty Threats to Outsource Services

• There’s no advantage contracting with Los Angeles County for fire and police services – it would only reduce services, not costs
• 90% of voters rejected Measure P to contract with L.A. County for fire services
• We can do a Referendum against an ordinance to outsource services

Non-Binding Resolution on How to Spend Measure A Tax Money

• The City Attorney said the resolution on how to spend the Measure A tax money is not binding, and only language in the ballot measure can be binding
• City Council chose the non-binding route, and used a worthless resolution as a ploy
• The new taxes will pay for past and future pay raises and the resulting pension increases, NOT for infrastructure or schools

Most Businesses OPPOSE Measure A – Just ask them as I did

• 90% of El Segundo Businesses are not Chamber of Commerce members
• The Chamber did not allow its general membership to vote before taking a position

Measure A has Bad Timing

• It greatly weakens the City Council’s bargaining position when it negotiates new long-term union contracts later this year, after the April 8 election
• It asks us to raise our own taxes before we can see if any cost savings result from those negotiations, or if the unions get more big pay raises as usual
• City Council can come back with less extreme measures in November – After it negotiates new long-term union contracts and makes them public

Measure A Does Nothing to Solve the City’s Spending Problems and Actually Delays a Real Solution

• Firefighters and Police are paid total compensation of $150,000 to $380,000+ per year
• 9 City Employees are paid more than $300,000 per year; 21 more than $250,000; 43 more than $200,000; 100 more than $150,000; and 172 more than $100,000
• Last year City Council raised Chevron’s taxes by more than $8.5 Million average per year for 15 years, but the City Council keeps coming back for more taxes!

City Council Controls and Increased Pension Costs in 3 Significant Ways

• Huge Pay Raises and Special Compensation for things that are existing job requirements or unrelated to the job increased Pension costs
• City pays 71% to 94% of the total CalPERS pension contributions instead of only half
• City provides the most extravagant and expensive Pension Plan Options

This flyer is a response to late campaign mailers and late campaign contribution reports.
Check the PublicSafetyProject.org web site for documentation and responses to any last-minute hit pieces.
Authored by Michael D. Robbins. Not authorized or endorsed by any candidate or committee.
Paid for by Michael D. Robbins, P.O. Box 2193, El Segundo, CA 90245. 4/3/2014 Rev. 4