Measure Q
The following general information responds to commonly asked questions about
Measure Q
Why is Measure Q on
the Ballot?
Adequate police,
fire, and emergency services, parks and recreation opportunities, clean and
well-maintained streets all protect the investment you have made in your
home. These services also attract new business to our community.
Cathedral City does not have enough money in its General Fund, nor does it
have enough annual income to pay the skyrocketing demands for city services
of our growing population.
Our
population continues to grow and there are more demands for police services,
emergency medical services, and fire services. Response times to come to the
aid of our residents continue to climb. Increased traffic has added to the
wear and tear on our already tired streets. The City is unable to keep up
with the ever increasing demands for services with our current revenue.
As a post Proposition 13 city, Cathedral City only gets about $34 per person
in property tax. Palm Springs, a smaller city, in comparison gets $282 per
person.
When voters repealed a
Community Service District tax in 1999, the City reduced the budget by 18%.
Cathedral City has not filled staff positions and has reduced staff through
attrition.
Cathedral City has
worked hard to bring new businesses to the city (and the increased sales tax
they produce) – an average 25 new business licenses are issued every month.
The City continues to work closely with the auto dealers to expand the Auto
Center to generate more tax revenue. The Cathedral City Auto Center has many
of the busiest dealerships in the State.
The city eliminated it Parks and Recreation Department, stopped watering
parks and significantly limited street sweeping. Residents are not happy
with these cuts.
Residents who are
not pleased with the level of service and decaying infrastructure asked the
City Council to survey the residents to get their input. The results said
residents could live with an increase in sales tax. The Council agreed to
let the citizens of Cathedral City vote on this measure, hence Measure Q for
a better Quality of Life in Cathedral City.
What Is Measure Q?
Measure Q
will increase the sales tax in Cathedral City by ¾ of one percent. It is
estimated that this will bring up to $6 million a year to the General Fund –
to be used for city operations such as police and fire, and roads.
If you were to spend $500 a month on taxable items in Cathedral City
(remember food and prescriptions are NOT taxed) it would cost you an
additional $3.75 – the price of a hamburger or a large Latte.
What does this mean to Cathedral City Residents?
Cathedral City has the longest emergency response time in the Valley --- 6.1
minutes. This should concern everyone, because if CPR and advanced care is
not provided to a cardiac arrest victim, the chance of survival decreases 7%
to 10% for every minute of delay. Brain death starts to occur four to six
minutes after cardiac arrest if no CPR and defibrillation occurs during that
time.
The number of “hot calls” for
police services has increased 70%, while staffing has remained virtually
unchanged. A Cathedral City resident who calls 911 for police services has a
70% chance that all available officers are responding to other emergencies.
Although each call is prioritized, unless you are having an emergency in
progress, police may not be able to respond to your needs immediately
The International City Manager’s Association (ICMA) has established
standards of fire department staffing levels, as determined by population.
The recognized standards range from a minimum of one firefighter to an
optimum of two firefighters on duty per 1000 residents. Cathedral City's
Fire Department currently staffs .71 firefighters on duty per 1000
residents, well below the minimum recommended by ICMA staffing level is
currently .71 firefighters on duty per 1000 residents, well below the
minimum recommended by ICMA.
Roads
go in need of repair and with limited street sweeping nuisance water and
dirt accumulates.
Will a
higher sales tax hurt Cathedral City businesses?
No, many cities and counties in California have increased their sales tax
(an increase to the base sales tax is actually called a Transactions and Use
Tax), including Laguna Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco counties. The
City of San Bernardino has a similar measure on the ballot also. While 80%
of the population of California lives in a community with an additional
Transactions and Use tax businesses continue to be successful in all of
these areas.
How do I know the
City will spend Measure Q dollars on fire and police and other community
priorities?
First, there is the
Benchmark Survey where residents told the City Council what they wanted
priorities to be. City Council approved the formation of a 5 member citizen
committee to advise them on how dollars generated by Measure Q should be
spent.
What’s the Bottom Line?
Measure Q will cost less than a penny on the dollar. Cathedral City will
have the police, fire, recreation, road and other key city services that our
city’s growing population deserves.
Cathedral City Wins Yet Another Award –
this time National
The National
City-County Communications and Marketing Association presented Cathedral
City with a Savvy Award for its 2006 SCRAP (Student Creative Recycle Art
Program) Calendar.
Every year,
Cathedral City and the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery create a calendar that briefly
details the mission of the program and features the creative and colorful
artwork of its participants. The 2006 Calendar, titled “How on Earth did you
make that?” shows the integration of art and the environment.
The 2006 Cathedral City/S.C.R.A.P. Gallery Calendar was created to promote
awareness of recycling, environmental and arts education programs available
to the kids of Cathedral City, Ca. Distributed to over 21,000 households in
Cathedral City, the first page gives a brief overview of the S.C.R.A.P.
Gallery program. As one flips the pages, each month features the imaginative
artwork of program participants. The calendar introduces parents to a fun
and engaging way to encourage their children to respect the environment.
Using scraps, strips, fragment and trash, kids can actively participate in
conservation and reuse through hands-on art projects.
Savvy awards recognize outstanding local government achievements in
communications, public sector marketing and citizen-government
relationships.
Deanna Pressgrove,
Cathedral City Environmental Conservation Manager, accepted the award in the
Printed Publications – Calendar category for Cities with populations between
8,000 and 72,000.
There were 690
applications submitted in all categories for Savvy Award consideration.
Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) Alert
Recently, it has come to the attention of the Cathedral City Fire Department
that inexpensive compact fluorescent lamps (CFL’s) are available at local 99
cent thrift stores. We now have two reported cases of malfunction of the
Fieldbreeze 20 and 30 watt bulbs. One of the cases resulted in a fire with
limited damage to the contents of a residential garage. The other fire
involved a vanity where the bulb was witnessed malfunctioning and
immediately turned off. Several reports on the internet state that the
“Fieldbreeze” brand of CFL sold in dollar stores are not safety rated and
are an extreme safety hazard. The bulbs discovered by the fire department
are produced in China and do not have UL (Underwriter’s Labs) approvals or a
FM (Factory Mutual) approvals.
In
this time of rising energy cost and the advent of several different types of
CFL, more and more of us are switching from incandescent lights to energy
conserving fluorescent lamps where possible. Be mindful that a bargain on
compact fluorescent lamps may not be such a good deal if your home or
business catches fire. When purchasing any electrical device, look for
approvals to insure safe operation and instructions on proper use. Remember,
to conserve wisely and be a cautious shopper. Buyer beware.
CFLs distributed at energy saving events sponsored by the Community Energy
Partnership are all tested for quality and reliability as well as carrying
the EnergyStar logo.
State of the City Address
A reminder that Mayor De Rosa will deliver the Cathedral City Chamber of
Commerce Sate of the City Address tomorrow, October 18th, at the Doral
Resort. There is a reception at 11:30 and lunch and the address begin at
noon. Call the Chamber for tickets at 328-1213 or purchasing a ticket at the
door.
Looking for
Sponsors for the Cathedral Fest/Holiday Tree Lighting event in Town Square.
This year’s Cathedral Fest/ Holiday Tree Lighting event will take place from
3:30 p.m. to dusk on December 9th. There are opportunities to become a
sponsor of the event at multiple levels to support the City and advertise
your business. Go to
http://www.cathedralcity.gov/News/Tree Lighting - Cathedral Festival
Brochure.pdf for more information.
##
