Duarte Voters OK Continuation of Tax
Duarte voters have approved by a 2-1 margin a special tax to pay for park maintenance in what city officials said was among the first mail-in elections conducted to comply with a new state tax law.
The approval means that homeowners will continue to pay $59.42 a year to maintain 11 neighborhood parks and the city’s bicycle trail and greenbelt.
The city mailed ballots to 5,372 homeowners asking them whether they wanted to continue to pay the tax. Proposition 218, passed in November, requires that cities put certain special tax assessments to a public vote.
Of the 1,551 ballots cast and signed by Duarte homeowners, 1,124 favored the levy and 427 opposed it, according to City Clerk Marilyn Dwyer. The levy needed a simple majority to succeed.
An additional 171 ballots returned were disqualified because they were unsigned, Dwyer said.
The assessment will generate $319,191 in the coming fiscal year.
For the last 15 years, the City Council has approved the continuance of the tax.
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