The following letter to the editor was published in the El Segundo Herald newspaper (HeraldPublications.com) on Thursday, January 12, 2012 in the Letters section on page 14. The El Segundo Herald has a strict 250-word limit, including the title.
Table Tax Increase Proposal
As a 40-year resident of El Segundo I’m baffled and somewhat distressed by the City Council’s attempt to increase taxes on Chevron by over $10 million annually. It’s unclear that this action is necessary and even less clear what the money would be used for.
Despite the City’ Manager’s statements that the funds would go for infrastructure and capital projects, it’s possible they could go to the general fund.
Further, if infrastructure is the issue, the customary route would be through bonds, not a tax increase. In my opinion, having been deeply engaged in the passage of three school bond measures and serving at one time on one of the bond citizen’s financial oversight committees, this approach would have made much more sense.
Chevron not only supported those bonds, the company is the largest payer of school bond taxes. It’s entirely likely they would have been open to a discussion about how they could support the City’s current infrastructure needs.
By choosing instead to promote a tax increase that singles out Chevron alone among all the City’s taxpayers, the Council is likely to irreparably damage its relationship with one if its strongest supporters; erode goodwill among the business community and voters alike; and face a costly, resounding defeat at the polls in April.
The Council has the opportunity to avert a very unfortunate outcome by tabling this proposal and re-evaluating not only its needs but, a more equitable, well-thought out means of meeting them.
Bill Watkins
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed