Pass: 3,019 / 60.08% Yes votes ...... 2,006 / 39.92% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney Arnold M. Alvarez-Glasman

Measure PC is submitted to the voters by the Pomona City Council to clarify and update the City’s current Utility Users Tax (“UUT”) Ordinance, so that the Ordinance can be applied equally to new telecommunications technology and older telephone technology at the current tax rate of 9%. Measure PC does not increase the current UUT tax rate.

Background:

Residents of Pomona have paid the UUT on charges for telephone services since
1969. UUT revenues are paid into the City’s General Fund, which funds general city services, such as police and fire protection, library services, parks and recreational programs. The City’s UUT as applied to telephone services – also known as the “Telephone Users’ Tax” – currently generates $6.25 million in annual revenues.

In past years, the City of Pomona, like most cities with UUT ordinances, referenced Federal law in its UUT Ordinance to determine which telephone services were taxable and which were not. However, telephone technology has changed greatly since 1969. As a result, certain references to Federal law in the City’s UUT ordinance, as well as other terms and definitions in the ordinance, have become outdated and do not address modern technologies.

Some cities have become the target of litigation by telephone service providers due to the reference to Federal law in their UUT ordinances. As a result of these cases other cities, like Pomona, could be the target of similar litigation. The purpose of this Measure is to keep the City of Pomona from potential litigation and for the City to preserve its existing UUT revenues. This Measure does not increase the UUT tax rate.

The Measure:

Measure PC would adopt an ordinance to remove outdated references to Federal law from the UUT ordinance. The Measure would replace older terms and definitions with modern language to address new technologies and treats all telephone customers the same for local tax purposes, whether they use traditional land-line service, cellular/wireless service, or cutting-edge services such as Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and text messaging.

Measure PC maintains the tax rate for the UUT at the current rate of 9% for all telephone services regardless of the technology used.

Measure PC requires approval by a majority of voters. A “yes” vote for Measure PC will approve the updates described above. A “no” vote against Measure PC will keep in place the City’s existing UUT Ordinance without the updates described above.