12/03/2022
HISTORY OF THE ANTIQUE STREETLIGHTING DISTRICT
If you live, or own property, in this proposed district, hopefully you have learned that the Glendora City Council is proposing that you pay a new property tax. While the final numbers are not in yet, initial estimates indicate you will pay 5 -10 times what other folks are paying for streetlighting throughout the city. I thought some of you might appreciate learning more about the history of this lighting district.
For decades, property owners in the district paid a year assessment/tax. This tax was charged each year and was to be used for the maintenance and operation of the streetlighting system. This yearly tax was the same, or very similar, to the amount paid by thousands of other Glendora property owners for streetlighting. However, in about 2004, it was determined that the lights were in an advanced state of neglect and disrepair. Poles were rusty and damaged, electrical covers were missing, wiring was exposed, globes were broken or missing, bulbs were burned out...well you get the idea. City staff declared the system unsafe and shut it down.
During a series of public outreach meetings, city staff was forced to admit that no real maintenance had ever been performed on the system. Unlike the majority of streetlights throughout the city, these lights had not been maintained by Edison. Instead, they were supposed to be maintained by the city, but they had no staff with training in the maintenance of the system.
At these meetings, the city announced their intention to impose a new tax on the few hundred property owners in the district. This tax would be significantly higher than what other property owners throughout the city paid for streetlighting. The City Council expected a handful of owners to pay for the expensive cost of renovating the system. Fortunately, California laws had changed and the city could no longer simply impose this tax on the owners. Instead, due to the mandates of Prop 218, the city was required to let the affected owners vote on that new expensive tax scheme.
And that is just what happened in both 2007 and 2008. The affected owners in the district, folks like me and you, got a chance to vote. Our response was overwhelming: THE OWNERS REJECTED THE NEW TAX SCHEME!
In 2007, the projected cost was about $800,000 dollars and each residence would pay nearly $400 in additional taxes each year over a decade. Over 90% of the affected owners voted against that proposal. In 2008, the projected cost had risen to about $1.1 million dollars and each residence would pay approximately $150.00 a year in new taxes for some 3 decades! Once again, this proposal was rejected by the about 2/3rds of the owners. THE TAXPAYERS HAD SPOKEN...OR SO WE THOUGHT!
Unfortunately, essentially the same tax proposal, which has been previously rejected twice by property owners, is being thrust upon us once again. Only this time, the plan is even more expensive! While final numbers are still not in, it is projected to cost somewhere in the 2.5 million dollar range. Owners will be forced to pay a new yearly tax that is projected to be 5-10 times what other property owners in the city pay for streetlighting. In addition, the proposal fails to include a sunset clause and includes a yearly increase tied to the cost of living index. In other words, the cost will go up yearly and will never end.
Why should a handful of owners pay for something that benefits the entire city? And why should these owners pay FAR MORE than any other property owner in the city? This is an unfair proposal and I urge you to oppose it.
Take the time to email the members of the Glendora City Council (link listed above) and let them know that you oppose this unfair and wrongheaded tax proposal.
