League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Riverside County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Measure W Sales Tax Increase City of Blythe Majority Approval Required Fail: 671 / 36.15% Yes votes ...... 1,185 / 63.85% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure W	Arguments Against Measure W
Arguments in favor of Measure "W" include: The Blythe City Council unanimously approved the placement of the sales tax increase on the ballot; The City needs revenue to deliver the needed services and infrastructure the resident's demand, like roads, police protection, fire protection, recreation center activities, senior center activities, promoting our City, and cleaning our City; This increase will sunset (go away) in five years; The Blythe Volunteer Fire Chief, Billy Kem said, "the citizens of Blythe will benefit from the quality of life improvements that will come from the additional resources"; The City of Blythe has reduced its workforce by 48% and operating supplies by 16% since 2008; City officials argue this revenue is vital to providing the necessary City services; If measure "W" does not pass, the continued likelihood of additional cuts is inevitable; Two of the biggest problems that face the City of Blythe are the lack of funding to address their negative fund balance or negative cash and the road improvement funding, the proponents argue. The sales tax would increase from 8.0% to 8.5%; this .5% increase would be approximately $600,000 of revenue to address the above needs. This would be paid by, not only Blythe residents, but also those who pass through our City. For every $1 spent, it would be $.05 or, on average, $22 per year/per resident. Below are the supporters who signed the official voter pamphlet in favor of Measure "W": By: Bill Kem, Fire Chief of Blythe Volunteer Fire Department Doris Morgan, Senior Advocate Angie Patel, Past President of the Blythe Chamber of Commerce Sam Patel, Business Owner Gloria Saldana, Business Owner	(No arguments against were submitted)