League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA April 11, 2006 Election
	Joseph Michael Mosca Answers Questions Candidate for Member, City Council; City of Sierra Madre

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. Did you support Measure F in November 2005? If not, please discuss the adequacy of Sierra Madre's volunteer fire and EMT services.

I did not vote for Measure F, but I do support the concept of further funding for public safety. I did not vote for Measure F because (1) I felt the measure should have had a sunset date, (2) I did not agree with the index that allowed the tax to increase each year, and (3) I did not agree with the fact that the tax increased based on the size of one's home.

I do understand perfectly the arguement for non-inclusion of a sunset clause. However, I believe that a sunset clause would have allowed for greater accountability. The tax would need to come before the voters again in the future and they would have to decide whether it was still a necessary tax. Ultimately, property taxes are regressive in nature and we ought to move away from this form of taxation.

Proposition 13 only allows for a 2% increase in property taxes per year, but the special parcel tax under Measure F would be allowed to grow each year by 5%. A flat tax would be more acceptable and in line with the fact that property taxes is a regressive form of taxation.

I did not agree with the increase of tax on a parcel based on its square footage. There are many older people in our community that purchased their homes a long time ago and have since paid them off. They are now living on a fixed income and do not have any more means to pay a tax than perhaps a person that lives in a more modest size home.

The fire department does need additional funds for increased response time. Increased response time is essential and the funds to hire additional day time responders ought to be our top priority.

The time has come that our City ought to have paramedic services. Paramedic services are no longer a luxury item for a city, but it is a much needed and essential service for its residents.

2. How can Sierra Madre best achieve the goal of hillside preservation?

Preservation of our open spaces and hillside will be one of my top priorities.

We should work more closely with our fellow foothill communities in the fight to preserve our hillside. With the full resources of some of neighboring communities, such as Azusa and Duarte, we stand a much better chance of preserving our hillside.

In fact, Duarte recently received a large grant from the mountain conservatory to buy several acres of open space in their hillside. We should use their plan as a guide in buying some of our hillside.

We need to make sure that our Hillside Management Zoning Ordinance is strengthen in a way that it stands up against legal attack by developers and that it is clear enough that it protects our hillside to the fullest extent of the law.

3. Which of the following sources of revenue would you favor to avoid a budget shortfall in Sierra Madre: parcel tax; utility tax; assessment district; leasing of water services?

In order to avoid a budget shortfall, I would favor an increase in the utility tax. We are currently at 6% with our utility tax. Most of neighboring communities have a higher than 6% utility tax. If we increase the utility tax to around 9% or 10%, then we would be in line with other communities in the surrounding areas and we would be able to raise, at current consumption rates, approximately $600,000.00 per year.

We currently raise approximately $900,000.00 from our utility tax.

It is important to know that because this is a general tax increase, it would only need to receive 50% + 1 vote from our community to pass.

I would also favor a sunset provision on this tax, so that we could re-visit this issue in the future to determine whether the tax is still necessary.

I do not favor leasing our water services.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: March 20, 2006 15:38
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