Property Owners Reject Fire Services Assessment
City officials on Tuesday were weighing how to make up $1.8 million to pay for fire services after property owners rejected an assessment for that amount.
A majority of the mail-in ballots tallied Monday night favored continuing the assessment, but the levy failed because votes are weighted according to how much each property owner would pay.
The ballot count was 1,475 in favor of the assessment and 1,413 opposed. But the no votes accounted for $341,883.68 in proposed assessments, compared with $278,049.79 in favor.
The weighted vote is one of the novel features of Proposition 218, the tax-limiting initiative passed by voters last fall. The law is aimed at giving property owners and taxpayers more authority to approve local levies.
Azusa property owners joined voters in Claremont and Compton in rejecting assessments that are being put to a vote for the first time. Most assessments in other cities have passed.
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