Monrovia : Utility Tax on Ballot

The City Council voted Tuesday to draw up the papers to put a utility users tax on the April 14, 1992, city ballot to finance a new police station.

The 3% tax on residential gas and telephone bills and on commercial electric and telephone bills would raise $9 million for a 30,000-square-foot police station to be constructed at Ivy and Lime avenues. The tax would cost an average household $50 a year and an average business $132 a year for the next 27 years.

A citizens committee has recommended replacing the existing police station, which is overcrowded and not earthquake-safe. The council is scheduled to take a final vote on the tax at its Jan. 7 meeting. Though joining Tuesday’s unanimous vote, Councilman John Nobrega said he would probably vote against placing the matter on the ballot. Nobrega said he thinks the tax is inequitable and places an unfair burden on the city’s residents during the current economic recession.