PVE Community Newsletter

Serving Lunada Bay, Malaga Cove, Montemalaga and Valmonte

WHY ISN’T OUR ELECTED COUNCIL PROPOSING A TAX?

An anonymous group of people (insiders/outsiders) have proposed this poorly written Tax.

• It comes at an increase from $1,000 to $3,300 per average household and increases annually thereafter

• It was not reviewed by our City Attorney to identify and eliminate conflicts.

• The tax’s text allows safety funding to be diverted to development projects and lacks accountability (details follow).

A SECOND tax is planned after this Tax

• Councilmember Kemps admits VIDEO the city will need a second tax because this Tax excludes infrastructure funding.

• Yet, this is already the largest city parcel tax in CA and also excludes pension funding.

Petition signers can force the tax to pass with less than 50% voter approval:

• If 10% of voters sign the petition, the tax will bypass Prop 13 so only 50% of the voters who choose to vote in the June 2026 special election decide for us.

  This means if 70% of voters vote (like the last election), then only 35% of voters can force this tax on homeowners.

• The Tax proponents are targeting a special election which has reduced voter turnout, at a cost of $75,000 to the city.

Real Estate companies/developers funded 75% of the donations to promote this tax LINK (6th page)

______________________________________

IN SUMMARY: Residents need a tax proposed by their own Elected Council

• Council has resident support to pass a tax that aligns to community needs above special interests. A tax that provides:

  • fiscal stability by addressing pension debt

  • maintains infrastructure

  • ensures critical safety is included like a 3 minute response time and a minimum number of patrols in service and retains our local police

• There is no need for insiders/outsiders to force a tax using such a small group of voters

Please DO NOT sign this Tax Initiative without Reading it First (Tax Text)

We Need a Tax, but NOT This Tax

PVE already spends more per household than other PV cities.

A Resident’s feedback:

The City’s website states the city spends $15.5 million annually on Public Safety (police, fire and emergency) services which is roughly the amount of the proposed $16.25 tax.

This leads to what seems to be the unanswered question: ‘what will the City Council do with the 60% of the General Fund that will be freed up if this initiative passes?’

This tax proposal comes from a small anonymous un-elected group who collected $50,000 in donations from about 5 real estate people. I wish our City Council HAD done their job and put a measure on the ballot to replace Measure E. That way, we would have our own city staff, City Treasurer and City Attorney ensure the tax is for the benefit of the residents only.

It is not too late for Mayor Lozzi to schedule a serious City Council discussion on replacing Measure E. We have already had two Town Halls, mailers, an Ad Hoc committee and hired three consultants. All that’s left is to craft a tax measure and put it on the ballot.

ANOTHER RESIDENT:

Councilmembers ran hard promoting themselves as leaders to sit on the Council. Financial stability and taxation is part of what we expect from our elected Council. From the city website, we know the small group behind the Initiative Parcel Tax has raised $50k to market their tax. 50% of that $50k came from one donor whose business develops multi-use buildings. Most of the other donations are from real estate companies. What is the REAL motive behind this unelected group? Sure, let’s replace Measure E to support the Police and City. But that’s the job of elected Council Members and I, for one, want to hear from our Council why they are shirking their responsibility. All of the five people on Council, campaigned on their leadership, so now is the time for them to do their job.

AND ANOTHER RESIDENT:

A fiscal conservative would have fixed City Hall by now. A spendthrift does the opposite and explores razing a repairable building and reconstructing it. Also, spendthrifts forget that this process will take years, cause a disruption to city services (including emergency), and add to traffic at Malaga Cove Plaza. It will be a hell that people will experience in person and when property taxes are due. The City’s consultant, Walker Contracting, stated the city hall buildings do not need to be replaced, but the city needs to stop neglecting them LINK

There is no accountability in this POORLY WRITTEN TAX PROPOSAL

• There are no safety services specified, no 3-min response time, minimum patrols, etc

• The “Independent Oversight” Committees is neither. Appointed/dismissed as advisory to and by Council, they have no authority to stop any expenditure.

______________________________________

PROBLEMATIC MARKETING BY THE ANONYMOUS TAX GROUP

• The tax proponents are misleading residents by stating this is just a “modernization” of Measure E, but it more than triples Measure E, without accountability.

• Tax proponents advocate residents sign their petition in a 3-minute drive-by, rather than allowing them to read the tax text and find out what is in it.

• Tax proponents are trying to scare Residents into signing by telling them if they don’t sign, the city will have to reduce police patrols to only one at a time. And residents are told the funding is needed for fire abatement, when the County already offers fire abatement funding for FREE LINK.

______________________________________

The Tax Text allows Safety Funds to be Diverted to the Development of New Fire and Police stations

1. Section 3.36.060 of the tax hike includes the words, "The costs of providing a public safety services include, but ARE NOT LIMITED TO," introduces a huge loophole to allow development of a new fire and police stations ... all in the guise of *safety.*

2. Section 3.36.080 E. if funds are redirected away from safety purposes in violation of the terms of the tax, and even if such a violation is confirmed by a “court of competent jurisdiction”, the expense will not be invalidated, nor shall any contract be impeded that violates the terms of the tax. This loophole allows Council to violate the terms of the tax for an unlimited amount and with unlimited frequency.

3. By diverting the costs of the $7.2 million Fire Contract to a new tax, this frees up $7.2 million in annual funds from property taxes for Council to build their new Fire and Police stations.

   The City’s consultant stated the city hall buildings do not need to be replaced, but the city needs to stop neglecting them LINK

Save Prop 13 is a statewide proposal to prevent the legal loophole created by a judge in a 2021 ruling, that allows this Tax Initiative to pass with less than 50% approval of those that chose to vote in the special election.

Save Prop 13, if passed, will retroactively rollback this Tax, even it it already passed and make it unlawful.

Journalistic integrity is a worthy discussion after a journalist interviewed the tax proponents and forgot to ask meaningful questions, giving the impression opinions are facts. The tax proponents were so pleased, they now use the Daily Breeze article to promote their Tax.

Yes. The other PV cities only receive 6%.

The Council has been given proof that the hydrants are neither tested or maintained. And the city has acknowledged, in writing, they have no records of hydrant testing or maintenance, but are legally and contractually required to ensure hydrants meet AWWA standard of care which includes pressure testing and maintenance.