18,757 / 37.4% Yes votes ...... 31,432 / 62.6% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Financial Implications

The proposed tax increase would increase the annual cost for a Berkeley resident with combined utility (gas, electricity, cable, telephone and cell phone) bills currently totaling $300 per month (or $3,600 annually) from $270per year to $324 per year.

s/MANUELA ALBUQUERQUE, Berkeley City Attorney

SAVE OUR CITY, VOTE YES ON J!
This "Budget Crisis Bridge Measure" will provide 4 years of emergency funding for front-line city services until the state returns local funding and the economy improves.

STATE ACTIONS CAUSED MOST OF THE LOCAL D EFICIT
The deficit, the largest in Berkeley's history, was caused because of reductions in state funding, dramatic increases in costs for the state-run employee retirement system (CalPERS), and the economic downturn.

BERKELEY HAS ALREADY CUT OVER $14 MILLION AND FACES ANOTHER $7.5 MILLION DEFICIT NEXT YEAR
The City balanced its budget and maintained the best bond rating of any city our size in the State by making tough decisions.

• Over 100 city positions eliminated.
• City employees agreed to across the board pay cuts.
• Programs have been reduced and consolidated.
• A freeze on new hires and new programs.

• The elimination of a fire truck company.
• Reductions in health and social services.
• Elimination of seven police officers.
• Cuts to senior programs, arts and community agencies

• Households would only pay about $4.50 per month.
• The tax automatically EXPIRES in 4 years.

s/TOM BATES, Mayor, City of Berkeley
s/ANDY ROSS, Owner, Cody's Books
s/GORDON J. WOZNIAK, Councilmember
s/boona cheema, Executive Director, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS)
s/REV. GEORGE E. CRESPIN, Pastor, St. Joseph the Worker Church

Don't Believe Them!!

• This tax has nothing to do with preserving "essential community services": Instead it frees up money now spent on essential services and re-routes it to non-essential programs.
• The deficit has nothing to do with state actions; it comes from runaway spending. The City's Budget Review Commission finds that Berkeley has a "structural deficit", caused by a failure to audit old programs, overstaffing and excessive employee benefits. They recommend against new taxes.
• The City Has Not Tightened Its Belt.
  1. Berkeley has 54 boards and commissions, each with funding demands. Not one has been cut.
  
  2. No program has been eliminated.
  
  3. The positions allegedly cut by the City are slots that were not filled, or where the employee was simply moved to another job.
  
  4. Berkeley still has more employees per capita than any other California city.
• This tax is not "temporary".
  1. Berkeley's property tax revenues increased by 62%over the past seven years.
  
  2. The budget (now $300,000,000) grows faster than inflation, even while population falls.
  
  3. Once in place, this tax will not go away.

s/LAURIE BRIGHT, individually and on behalf of, President, Council of Neighborhood Associations
s/JIM HULTMAN, individually and on behalf of, Board Member, Le Conte Neighborhood Association
s/GREGORY HARPER, individually and on behalf of, Block Captain, Stanton Street Neighborhood Association.
s/BETTY J. HICKS, Treasurer, San Pablo Neighborhood Council, individually and on behalf of Oregon Street Neighborhood Watch
s/MIRIAM Y. NG, individually and on behalf of, Vice Chair and Past Chair, Berkeley Chamber ofCommerce

• Berkeley's utility tax will cost you hundreds of dollars per year. If this measure passes, you'll be paying a 9% tax on your utilities. That's higher than all but one other Bay Area city!
• The tax targets cell-phones, telephones, gas, electricity, and cable. It targets every renter, homeowner, and business in the city. Do the math on your bills: 9% is a lot of money!
• The utility tax is regressive. Rich or poor, everyone has to pay the same tax rate under Measure J. And since no one can go without utilities, everyone pays regardless of whether they can afford it.
• This increase is horrible for small businesses. Look at all the empty storefronts downtown. Businesses don't move to Berkeley, and a major factor is the high tax cost.

The Budget Review Commission (appointed by the Council!) says the City's deficit won't be solved by "temporary" tax increases. They say the problem is "structural." The City has to stop spending more than it makes:

• Berkeley has more employees per capita than any East Bay city, with generous benefits and a permanent "no layoff" policy.
• We have 54 citizen boards and commissions.
• Unlike other cities, we don't demand Payments In Lieu of Taxes from the "non-profit" corporations that own55% of Berkeley's real estate.

Vote "No" on Measure J! You already pay enough!

s/ELEANOR PEPPLES, individually and on behalf of, President, North East Berkeley Association Board
s/LAURIE BRIGHT, individually and on behalf of, President, Council of Neighborhood Associations
s/DEAN METZGER, individually and on behalf of, President, Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association
s/MICHAEL WILSON, individually and on behalf of, President, Berkeley Property Owners Association
s/MARIE BOWMAN, individually and on behalf of, President Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations

Households would only pay ABOUT $4.50 PER MONTH, not hundreds of dollars.

FACT: State actions, the economy, rising healthcare and worker's compensation costs have caused major financial crises for all California cities.

FACT: Berkeley has made tough choices, CUTTING MORE THAN $14 MILLION FROM ITS $113,000,000 GENERAL FUND BUDGET.

FACT: CITY EMPLOYEES AGREED TO PAY CUTS to help maintain city services, saving more than $1 million.

FACT: CITY HAS ELIMINATED OVER 100 POSITIONS AND PUT A FREEZE ON ALL HIRING AND NEW PROGRAMS.

FACT: Berkeley employs more people than other East Bay cities only because WE DON'T CONTRACT OUTOUR HEALTH AND REFUSE SERVICES, THEREFORE ACTUALLY SAVING THE TAXPAYERS MONEY.

FACT: THE CITY FACES ANOTHER $7.5 MILLION DEFICIT NEXT YEAR.

FACT: Without Measure J Berkeley will need to:

• Eliminate a fire truck company.
• Reduce health and social services.
• Eliminate seven police officers.
• Cut senior programs, arts and community agencies

FACT: Measure J will expire when the State is scheduled to stop taking the cities' property tax money.

For more information about the City's budget crisis and Mayor Tom Bates' plan for fiscal recovery, go to http://www.CityofBerkeley.info/Mayor/FiscalRecoveryPlan.htm

ENSURE THE CITY KEEPS ESSENTIAL SERVICES SO BERKELEY CAN REMAIN A SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY FOR ALL OUR RESIDENTS.

PLEASE VOTE YES ON MEASURE J!

s/TOM BATES, Mayor, City of Berkeley
s/BEATRIZ LEYVA-CUTLER, Member, Latinos Unidos
s/MORRIS WRIGHT, Owner and President of BBI Construction
s/DAVID MANSON, Founding Member, Berkeley Organization of Congregations for Action (BOCA) Youth Initiative
s/DION S. ARONER, Former Assemblywoman

BE IT ORDAINED by the People of the City of Berkeley as follows:

Section 1. This ordinance shall be known as the Temporary Economic Recovery Act of 2004.

Section 2. The City of Berkeley is currently experiencing financial difficulties due to statewide and national economic conditions. In order to remedy these difficulties,t he City has made significant cuts in its expenditures. However, in order to be able to balance its budget while preserving the services desired by the people of Berkeley, the City also needs to raise additional revenues for a limited period of time, until economic conditions improve.

Section 3. That Section 7.70.076 is added to the Berkeley Municipal Code to read as follows:

7.70.076 Temporary increase in taxes.
A. For the calendar years 2005 through 2008, the tax rate in Sections 7.70.050, 7.70.060, 7.70.070, and7.70.075 shall be increased from 7.5% to 9.0%.
B. This section shall be deemed automatically repealed and of no further force and effect as of midnight on December 31, 2008, and as of January 1, 2009, the tax rates in Sections 7.70.050, 7.70.060, 7.70.070, and7.70.075 shall revert to 7.5%.
C. The City Council may at any time reduce or eliminate the tax increase imposed by this section.

Section 4. Pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIB, the appropriation limit for the City is increased by the aggregate sum authorized to be levied by this increase in the tax rate for each of the four calendar years from 2005 through 2008.

Section 5. The voters of the City of Berkeley hereby ratify all amendments to Chapter 7.70 of the Berkeley Municipal Code (Utility Users Tax) adopted prior to November 2, 2004.