Sales tax in the city of Compton just went up to 10%. 23 days after the June 7th election, Dean Logan’s staff at the LA County Registrar and Recorders office have finished counting all ballots and what was thought to be a defeat, has turned into a much needed victory for the city’s mayor.[adsenseyu2]
The Penny for Progress campaign is supposed to be a launching pad to enhance and restore vital services to the city’s nearly 100,000 residents.
The final vote count? 6,834 residents voted YES, while 6,608 voted NO.
In the spirit of transparency, an oversight committee will be established to oversee how the funds will be spent.
Residents have mixed feelings in regards to the passage, yet look forward to seeing if progress will come to the city.
In nearby Carson, an oversight committee was established to oversee the User Utility Tax account. On June 7th, Carson residents voted to extend the tax, which is only assessed on their utilities, not purchases made in the city.
Last year 2 Urban Girls was contacted by members of the oversight committee who complained about the lack of transparency, due to the city’s failure to provide documents requested by the committee.
Related: Why is the Carson mayor running for City Clerk
Residents should be asking their council members if the city’s municipal code will be amended to dictate where the funds are to go and how they are to be spent. Otherwise, if the funds go into the general fund, they will have a bear of a time trying to figure it out.
2 Urban Girls acknowledges the city has increased transparency on how money is being spent, by having warrants on the city council agenda for the residents to peruse. Additionally, with increased social media presence, and encouraging residents to watch the council meetings, is another step in the right direction.
Will this be enough to get the mayor re-elected come April?
9 Comments
I think the best thing to do is let it go, folks. Otherwise, prove your case unequivocally, if you have evidence to back up the claims. I knew about the provisional vote count awaiting confirmation and got it directly from a source I trust. The vote was so close, initially, that it was inevitable the proposition would or could eventually pass. Math wasn’t my strongest subject, but a vote that close, by percentage had to await final tabulation anyway. Sounds personal in a way, but hey, I’m pretty darned stupid myself. I voted in favor of the measure having just spent a lot of $ to repair my broken rack & pinion steering recently. That hurt far more than a total 10% sales tax could ever. Fortunately I found the money to pay my mechanic and now steer clear of certain streets. Nice to see Central Ave. finally getting the full treatment, long overdue. Could have happened years earlier, but it didn’t. Bond measures went off the rails, instead of into maintaining our infrastructure, as it should have been allocated. This city needs upkeep, and if anyone has a better notion of how to bolster the city’s rocky General Fund, please call the Treasurer’s office and suggest it. If it’s a great idea that works, then wonderful. Otherwise, let the repairs continue, please. Lot of love in the room today, I see. Amazing…solutions, not continued stress, is what we need, please. I’m older now, and would like to see improvement if that’s possible. And I do see some pockets of bright light among the years and years of neglect. Guess my eyesight isn’t as good as it once was. Must be tripping. Central Avenue, dug up down to the dirt. Wonder if they’d let me run over it before they pave it with my trusty metal detector. Who knows, might find some long lost artifact for my time spent. Never know. I use an old 70’s White’s Coinmaster 5000D, BTW. Great device for finding metal, coins, other valuable stuff. Wanna’ hang and see what it uncovers? Fun hobby. Look it up on youtube, if you want to learn more. Cheers…
I just learned that many of those votes came from people who do not live in Compton. It appears that people who live in Rosewood, an unincorporated portion of L. A. County next to the 1st. district got ballots with Measure “P” in them. This is illegal. Only residents living in the ‘city’ should have received ballots with Measure “P”. Therefore Measure “P” has to be declared invalid and brought back on the November ballot. The Registrar’s office in Norwalk has been informed about this problem but hasn’t said how they are going to handle it.
Never, in recent or distant history, has over 12,000 people voted in Compton. This fact, coupled with the seemingly unending count of provisional ballots seems to suggest that perusal of the provisional ballots is more than warranted. Moreover, the fact that a county supervisor donated his personal funds to support this measure, coupled with the fact that county workers tabulated these suspect provisional ballots is a conflict of interest that begs for state or federal investigation. However, my guess is that the people of Compton will, as usual, be forced to do the heavy lifting on their own. Ultimately, no matter what the outcome of such an inquisition, the facts concerning who counted what ballots may prove very enlightening and worth the pursuit.
A lot of those votes came from folks who live in Rosewood. Stay tuned.
NO! The residents have had enough of Aja Brown’s lies. She has continued to slander residents addressing the council. She continues to misappropriate public funds in many ways. She cares and has done nothing for the city of Compton!
The biggest question I have is can our sales tax go over 10%..The “No” side was saying it can, the “Yes” side was saying it can’t..Somebody is not correct.
The answer is yes, it can.
There is a statewide 0.25% sales tax that was approved in Nov 2012 as part of Prop. 30 that is ending at the end of this year.
That means that if LA County Metro passes their 0.5% sales tax increase on this November’s ballot, the sales tax rate in the City of Compton would be 10.25% starting next year.
Normally, 9.5% is the cap, but LA Metro has secured special legislation from Sacramento so that neither the sales tax they passed in 2008 nor the new one this year count toward the cap.
Thanks
The vote was so close, you could have gotten a shave with it. Glad it’s settled now, except for the controversy, of course. Wouldn’t be a Democracy without it, I guess. And here we are…Central Avenue, not related to the proposition, of course, if finally getting it’s long, overdue makeover. So I do see some good, even if it’s the work of the City Manager, which is the way the city’s charter is written. But cast the blame where you may. I like seeing streets with potholes that damage your car’s suspension. Don’t you? Change often causes bad feelings, it seems. I’m going with the flow. I like new pavement and other improvements made possible by a slight sales tax increase. In the long run, we’ll have a chance to see things like improvements take precedence over hurt feelings and long standing resentment. Rosewood should have been reviewed a long time ago for possible annexation, since the first attempt was blocked by NIMBY’s, years back. Fast forward, I think the majority of those residents have had a change of heart anyway. Improvements and sales tax revenue, added up, benefit all of us, not just the few. even those who opposed it, may have a change of heart in a few years of urban renewal and upgrade. Next, lighting and street signs. The key to safe streets is adequate lighting for all. Edison workers already told me about problems with the current system, calling it junk, so they’re aware, from an engineering standpoint, of possible solutions on the drawing table. You need a darned flashlight with LEDS to find you way some nights, until you cross city limits and see the light. See the light, and stop cursing the darkness. You just might like what you see ahead. Or not…IDK anymore. Hard to please everyone, of course.