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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3c - Signature Verification - UUTCertificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition September 15, 2015 Page 2 of 3 DATE: September 15, 2015 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Dominic Lazzaretto, City Manager Stephen P. Deitsch, City Attorney Prepared By: Lisa Mussenden, Chief Deputy City Clerk/Records Manager SUBJECT: VERIFICATION OF SUFFICIENCY OF SIGNATURES ON UTILITY USERS TAX REPEAL INITIATIVE MEASURE AND REQUEST FOR FURTHER DIRECTION FROM CITY COUNCIL Recommended Action: Receive and File, and Accept the Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition; and Direct Staff to Prepare a Report Analyzing its Impact SUMMARY On August 5, 2015, proponents of a Utility Users Tax repeal initiative measure filed a signed petition with the City Clerk’s office. Pursuant to the California Elections Code, the petitions were examined for signature verification by the City Clerk’s Office with assistance from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. In a letter dated August 28, 2015, the City Clerk’s Office verified that the petition contained 558 valid signatures and notified the proponents of this fact. Under State Law, the Petition needed 460 signatures to qualify the Measure for the ballot. Therefore, the measure has obtained the required signatures. The remainder of this report will provide the City Council with options under the California Elections Code. The recommendation is to direct staff to prepare an impartial and informational report on the potential impacts of the measure, which must be presented to the City Council within 30 days. DISCUSSION On April 14, 2015, the City received a Notice of Intent to Circulate a Petition and proposed new initiative measure (“Measure”) from Arcadia residents/proponents that would amend the City’s Municipal Code by repealing the Utility Users Tax (“UUT”) in its entirety (for all utilities currently taxed telecom, electricity, gas, and water). Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition September 15, 2015 Page 2 of 3 In accordance with the Elections Code, the City Attorney’s office prepared and sent a ballot title and summary of the Measure to the proponents on April 23, 2015. The proponents then had 6 months to gather enough signatures to qualify the Measure for the ballot. On August 5, 2015, the proponents submitted a signed petition to the City Clerk’s Office. On August 28, 2015, the City Clerk’s office verified that the petition contained 558 valid signatures to qualify the Measure for the ballot. The Elections Code normally requires the signatures of at least 10 percent of the City’s registered voters; however, because this concerns the repeal of a local tax, California Proposition 218 applies and it significantly reduces the signature requirement - only 5 percent of Arcadia voters who voted for any gubernatorial candidate at the last election (November, 2014). The City Clerk’s office confirmed that 9,181 Arcadia voters voted for a candidate at the last gubernatorial election; therefore, 460 signatures were required. The City Council will recall that another initiative measure was presented last year, which was broader in scope, reaching beyond just a repeal of the UUT. While the prior measure had received the minimum required number of signatures as well, the City Council, on the advice of the City Attorney, declined to place it on the ballot due to various provisions that made the measure illegal/unconstitutional. This new Measure removes those provisions and instead focuses solely on a repeal of the UUT. By doing so, the new Measure does not suffer the same legal/constitutional infirmities of the prior measure. The Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition is attached to this report and it is recommended that the City Council receive, file, and accept the certificate as valid in all respects. Since the Measure has obtained the required number of signatures, tonight, the City Council’s options under the Elections Code are as follows: a. Adopt the Measure as an ordinance, without alteration; b. Submit the Measure to the voters at the next regular municipal election. A “regular election” is one where Council Members are elected. That would be April 12, 2016; c. Submit the Measure to the voters at a special election between 88 and 103 days after the City Council calls the election (between December 12 and December 27, 2015); d. Direct staff to prepare an impartial and informational report analyzing the impact of the Measure on the City’s finances, ability to provide public services, and the like. Staff must present the report not later than 30 days after it is ordered by the City Council (October 15, 2015). If the City Council chooses this option, once the Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition September 15, 2015 Page 2 of 3 report has been prepared and presented, the City Council will need to consider all available options, including a-c above. The adopted budget for FY 2015-16 includes $7.0 million in UUT revenues, which is approximately 12.5 percent of overall General Fund revenues. While it can be asserted that a 12.5 percent drop in revenues would have a significant impact on services in the community, the precise impact of that loss in revenue cannot be accurately stated without further review and analysis by each City Department. Therefore, it is recommended that the City Council choose Option “d” above and direct staff to prepare a report to be presented to the Council on or before October 15, 2015. FISCAL IMPACT The Measure would have a $7.0 million impact annually to the City’s General Fund if approved by the voters or if the City Council chose to adopt the Measure by Ordinance. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council: 1. Receive, file, and accept the Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition from the Chief Deputy City Clerk/Records Manager; and 2. Direct staff to prepare a report analyzing its impact and present the report to the City Council on or before October 15, 2015. Attachment: Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition