ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE I

Measure I is a 35 year PARCEL TAX to pay for an Infrastructure Bond.

There are no set priorities for the tax money! More importantly, the anticipated cost of any single project is unknown. This measure states the money "cannot be used for any other purpose", but it does not say how your money will be used or state a timetable for individual project completion. The city's list of infrastructure projects, and their importance, may be vastly different from yours.

The City Council rushed this measure to the November Ballot without sufficient public debate. This PARCEL TAX has vast inequities. Residential properties worth $200,000.00 and those worth $20,000,000.00 pay the same $120.00/yr. parcel tax and 3% maximum yearly increase. Renters will likely not escape the tax with owners being allowed to pass through their cost

In separate City documents; for the next 10 years, the City wants to take the "anticipated" general fund revenues (various taxes of $265 Million Dollars), and combine them with Measure I revenue ($571 Million Dollars) to allocate towards infrastructure. These taxes, totaling $836 Million Dollars, plus interest on the bond, push the cost of funding infrastructure at or near $1BILLION DOLLARS. For that kind of money, Long Beach taxpayers need to think long and hard about this bypass of Proposition 13.

Long Beach is currently at its' spending limit and without sufficient reserves in the event of an emergency. Adding "credit card" debt will allow Long Beach to continue their thoughtless and reckless spending while asking for more of your tax dollars.

Vote "NO" on Measure I, and tell the city it needs to prioritize its' spending within the current revenues and not ask for additional taxes to fund infrastructure repair. We have already paid once!

KATHY RYAN
Long Beach Taxpayers Association