This year’s municipal elections for the Los Angeles County deals with issues that range from homelessness to marijuana regulations. Long Beach is in the southern tip of L.A. County and considering that Cal State Long Beach is a commuter campus, many students have a vested interest in the outcome. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Measure S: Neighborhood Integrity Initiative
This initiative imposes a temporary ban on large development projects that result in eviction of residents. Measure S requires an environmental impact report as well as a public review process every five years. It would include other measures such as prohibiting project specific amendments to the city’s general plans.
Measure S has attracted both support and opposition in Los Angeles for various reasons, and websites and Facebook groups have stemmed from this initiative.
Josh Joy Kamensky from “Goes too far,” a website intended to show why Measure S would not benefit the city of Los Angeles, said that this initiative would not fight housing problems, but rather increase them.
“In order to build more housing, we need the tools that Measure S would ban,” he said. “Measure S would force us to stop from building the housing we need.”
Measure H: Sales Tax for Homeless Services and Prevention
This sales tax measure authorizes a 0.25 percent increase on county sales tax in order to raise money for homeless services and prevention. This tax aims to raise $355 million annually for ten years.
The money raised from said tax would pay for mental health workers, counselors and housing subsidies according to the L.A. Weekly. In order for this measure to pass, it needs two-thirds supermajority to vote yes.
Measure A: Arcadia Unified School District, California, Parcel Tax
The Arcadia Unified School District website says Governor Jerry Brown’s budget measures for public education will cut the district’s budget to $2 million less than what was projected. As a result, Measure A is meant to combat this.
This measure allows Arcadia Unified School District to impose a $288 parcel tax annually for 18 years in order to get local funding to continue improving the school district.
In 2012, the same measure, but with a $228 tax, was imposed. Arcadia Unified School is increasing the parcel tax to get funds to further improve the school district programs such as math, art, science, music and reading programs.
Measure T: Bell Hotel Tax
A measure in the city of Bell would allow a 12 percent increase on their current eight percent hotel tax, which has been suspended by the city council. It is estimated to raise $285,000 annually for city purposes, such as law enforcement and street repairs.
The tax would be levied only on persons staying in hotels or motels in the city for more thirty days or less. It will not be imposed on property owners.
Measure B: Bellflower Marijuana Tax
This measure would authorize a tax on marijuana-related business in the city of Bellflower. The initial $15.00 tax rate for commercial cannabis would be effective July 1, 2017. This would tax would be set per fiscal year, per square foot according to the city’s website.
By July 2020, the tax would increase $2.50 per square foot every fiscal year.
Measure CC: Covina Utility Tax Extension
Measure CC would extend the current six percent utility user tax until 2029 to continue to provide $5 million annually to preserve city services such as police, parks, library, recreation and public works.
The utility user tax includes telephone, gas, electricity and water. Utility user taxes have raised about $2 billion per year in tax revenues, according to Ballotpedia.
Measure PS: Cudahy Parcel Tax for Police Protection
This would authorize the city of Cudahy to establish a five-year parcel tax to raise funds toward police protection services.
The parcel tax would be based on the units of property: for single-family and unimproved property, the tax would be $139. For multi-family units it would be $181 and for industrial and commercial property it would be $1,550 to $49,600.
Measure M: Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Referred Ordinance
In light of the passage of Prop. 64, which legalized medical marijuana statewide last November, measure M would regulate and tax the marijuana industry within the Los Angeles county.
According to the L.A. Times, the proposal tax will impose 5 percent for medical cannabis sales, 10 percent for recreational and 1 to 2 percent for companies that deal with transportation, research and cultivation.
Measure P: Harbor Department Leases Maximum Length Increase Charter Amendment
A charter amendment, a petition submitted to the council, that seeks to amend the city charter to increase the length of Harbor Department leases from 50 to 66 years, in accordance with changes to state law.
Measure LL: Monterey Park Library Parcel Tax
A parcel property tax would authorize a 20 year extension on parcel tax to raise funds for library services in Monterey Park. The tax would be based on units of property: $25 per single-family units, $50 per parcel for multi-family units, and $75 per parcel for commercial and industrial property.
Measure D: Palos Verdes Estates, Fire and Paramedic Services Parcel Tax
This ordinance in Palos Verdes Estates would impose a property tax to fund fire and paramedic services. This would also allow adjustments of up to 6.2 percent. Each eligible parcel has an initial base rate of $342.34 plus $0.196073 per square foot of building improvement effective July 1, 2017.
Measure C: Redondo Beach, King Harbor-Pier Development Restrictions
A citizen initiative that would approve amendments to reduce development in the King-Harbor Pier area. Developments in the Coastal Commercial Zones include areas such as parks, recreation and open space zones such as the Seaside Lagoon in the Redondo Beach King Harbor-Pier area.
Measure SF: San Fernando Appointed City Treasurer
This measure will allow voters to decide whether the city treasurer be an appointed or elected position.