More taxes

SAN GABRIEL - To help pay for street improvements and maintain the current level of emergency services, residents will be asked in November to approve a two percent increase in the city's utility tax.

"We really need this in going forward with our capital improvements, maintaining our city streets and infrastructure," Councilman Kevin Sawkins said at news conference Wednesday, a day after the council voted to place the measure on the November ballot.

If approved by voters, the utility tax would increase from 6 percent to 8 percent. That would average out to about $6 more per household per month. The average household now pays about $18 a month in utility taxes, city officials said.

The tax hike is necessary, officials say, to keep San Gabriel moving forward. Most of the funds from the increased tax would go to the police and fire department's budgets.

But some of the money also would be used for street improvements and to help pay for constructing a new police station, officials said.

This past May, City Council members passed a five-year capital improvement program, which included funded and unfunded projects.

But the city also is facing a $600,000 budget deficit, which officials have attributed to the weak economy. Funds generated by the current utility tax rate, passed in 1992, no longer are sufficient, officials said.

"The current tax ordinance is out of date," City Manager Michael Paules said.