League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA March 8, 2011 Election
	Measure BH-O Tax on Oil and Natural Gas Extraction City of Beverly Hills Ordinance - Majority Approval Required Final Election Results Fail: 2335 / 44.3% Yes votes ...... 2939 / 55.7% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure BH-O

Arguments Against Measure BH-O

Vote YES on O--protect Beverly Hills essential services and make sure Big Oil Companies pay their fair share! YES on O is NOT a tax on Beverly Hills residents or the greater business community. YES on O generates $1,000,000/annually to help protect essential city services such as: -Paving, maintaining, and repairing local streets, -City funding for local schools, -Maintaining/cleaning public areas and landscapes, -Providing public safety services: police response, fire prevention, paramedics, crime prevention and investigations The City has made $27 Million in cuts already--including reducing police officers and slashing library hours-- we still have a $2 Million deficit and can't afford any more cuts! YES on O ensures Beverly Hills receives every dime we are entitled to--oil companies that profit from the oil they take from our city will have to pay their fair share to Beverly Hills--not neighboring cities which could profit at our expense. Yes on O will NOT increase drilling in our City. None of these funds can be taken by Sacramento politicians. YES on O continues the City's tradition of FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY--all funds generated continue to be subject to annual independent audits and citizens review. Preserve our quality of life! Ensure big oil companies pay their fair share, other cities don't profit from Beverly Hills' natural resources, and that we generate revenue with NO TAX INCREASE on residents or the greater business community. "In today's tough economy, our City is proposing fiscally responsible solutions that protect our businesses and our local taxpayers. Our local businesses and city taxpayers won't pay a dime under this plan--join me in supporting yes on O." Eliot Finkel, City Treasurer /s/ Brian Rosenstein, Planning Commissioner /s/ Judie Fenton, Business Woman /s/ Eliot M. Finkel, City Treasurer and Chair - Citizens' Budget Review Committee /s/ Dennis Andrews, Beverly Hills Firemen's Association /s/ Howard Fisher, Attorney Rebuttal to Arguments For The city simply has its facts wrong. Measure O is NOT a tax on "Big Oil." It IS a tax on thousands of Beverly Hills residents and several churches and Jewish schools who depend on mineral rights payments from local energy producers. Measure O is a 500% increase in existing city taxes impacting small and moderate sized local companies. Foreign oil companies would be exempt. Higher oil production costs mean higher gas prices at the pump. Where would the money go? No one knows. The City Council could have written Measure O to guarantee these taxes be spent only on essential services, but didn't. They wrote it to let themselves spend it however they desire, including their pet projects. Measure O lacks real taxpayer accountability. Millions in local taxpayer dollars are wasted each year, according to the city's citizens Budget Review Committee. "The city's accounting system is outdated. The use of consultants seems excessive: $25 Million for 2008-2009. Overtime costs seem excessive: $7.4 Million for 2008-2009." -- Budget Review Committee Report to City Council (6/2/09) Los Angeles County's unemployment rate is 12.5% -- a record high. One out of every eight people is out of work. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Yet, instead of putting its own fiscal house in order, the City proposes a 500% tax increase that would eliminate good, local jobs. Measure O means lower property values and more layoffs, resulting in LESS long term money for the City of Beverly Hills. Vote NO on O. /s/ Bill La Marr, Executive Director, Calif. Small Business Alliance /s/ Pouriya Elyasi, 12 - year Beverly Hills resident /s/ Rachel Illulian, 21 - year Beverly Hills resident

What are they thinking? We're in the midst of the toughest economic downturn since the Great Depression and the City Council's answer is another massive TAX INCREASE ON RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES operating in Beverly Hills? Measure O is approximately a 500% TAX INCREASE on oil production here -- which would COST JOBS. This is the worst time to do that. They tried something similar in 2009 and -- by a 4 to 1 margin -- the voters said "NO!" The economy has only gotten worse since then, yet now the City Council is back -- again -- with one of the ideas rejected in 2009. Measure O is NOT a tax on Big Oil companies. It's a tax on small and medium-sized companies, small business contractors and residents of Beverly Hills. Measure O would give an enormous tax break to foreign companies. Because the new tax only applies to oil production in Beverly Hills, oil imported from foreign countries would be exempt making local companies less competitive. And increasing taxes on oil production means HIGHER GAS PRICES at the pump. Don't believe it when proponents say "no one" in Beverly Hills would pay this tax. Measure O is a tax on thousands of Beverly Hills residents whose property is above local oil reserves and who depend on payments from local producers. Measure O would reduce those payments which would even further REDUCE property values in Beverly Hills. There's NO GUARANTEE this enormous 500% tax increase would be used to fund essential public services like police and fire protection. A LOOPHOLE in the proposed law allows the City Council to spend the money on anything, including automatic pay raises and pension increases for city employees. Times are tough. Let's not make it worse. Vote NO on Measure O. /s/ Bill La Marr, Executive Director, Calif. Small Business Alliance Rebuttal to Arguments Against Yes on O is only applied to big oil companies -- NOT local residents or businesses. Who's really behind the opposition to Measure O? Big oil companies who don't want to pay their fair share for Beverly Hills' natural resources. All you need to do is see who's in the alliance opposing O-- the California Petroleum Association -- to understand who really benefits if Measure O fails! Don't be fooled by the petroleum industry's claims -- scare tactics with no basis in fact! Fact: Yes on O is NOT a tax or gasoline increase on Beverly Hills' residents or the greater Beverly Hills community. Fact: Who pays for Measure O? Only big oil companies -- NOT residents or other businesses. Measure O also doesn't increase oil drilling in Beverly Hills. That's why the petroleum industry opposes O! How does the community benefit? Yes on O generates more than $1,000,000 annually for the essential quality of life services we depend on, several of which have already experienced severe budget cuts. Measure O's official Impartial Analysis states: "Measure O would not change the business tax rate for any other business....revenues generated by the tax will be deposited in the City's general fund....the primary funding source for the City's operations and services such as police services, fire services, paramedic services, administrative support services and recreation services. The general fund is also the primary funding source for maintenance of City facilities and infrastructure including parks, streets and the library." Make Big Oil pay -- vote yes on O! /s/ Judie Fenton, Business Woman /s/ Eliot M. Finkel, City Treasurer and Chair - Citizens' Budget Review Committee /s/ Brian Rosenstein, Planning Commissioner /s/ Robert S. Anderson, 60 year Resident /s/ Howard S. Fisher, Attorney