Measures to Raise Taxes Get Boost From Council

A campaign committee has enlisted the help of City Hall to pass five measures on the November ballot that would provide $1.2 million a year to maintain city services through hikes in quarry fees, landlord taxes and the utility levy, officials said Monday.

The Five Yes’s for Azusa’s Future Committee has secured the support of the entire City Council and many of the candidates in November’s school board race, Councilman Dick Stanford said. The group today will make a public plea for support, calling on senior citizens to support the measures.

The measures--F, G, H, I and J--are designed to generate the revenue lost last summer when property owners in a mail-in election rejected the continuation of an assessment for fire services. Stanford said out-of-town property owners were to blame for the assessment’s defeat.

Much of the burden of the new measures would fall on businesses.

Measure F would tax admissions and sales at the local swap meet, while Measure G would increase fees paid by the quarries in the city and Measure H would increase the utility tax from 5% to 8%. Measures I and J would hike rental receipt taxes on residential and commercial property, respectively.