Purchase of Right of Way on Hermosa Beach Ballot
Hermosa Beach voters will decide June 7 on whether revenues generated by a recent increase in the city utility users tax should be used to purchase the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway right of way that cuts through the center of town.
Last November, voters approved the tax increase from 6% to 10% after City Council members promised to use the $666,000 the tax would raise each year to help buy the 20-acre right of way.
Because council members wanted to improve the chances of getting the tax measure approved, they put the increase on the ballot as a general tax--which requires only majority approval--instead of as a special tax for a specific purpose--which requires two-thirds voter approval.
Revenues generated by the general tax, which was approved by 53.1% of the voters, can be spent at the council’s discretion.
The City Council voted in February to put another measure on the June ballot that, if approved, will require the city to spend the revenues to purchase the right of way.
The measure, which requires two-thirds voter approval, also provides that the tax will return to 6% after sufficient funds have been raised to buy the land.
If the measure is not approved, the utility users tax will remain at 10% and the council will continue to determine how the funds are spent.
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