7,858 / 58.0% Yes votes ...... 5,694 / 42.0% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

In 1995, the voters approved Measure C which allowed the City to sell general obligations bonds that would not exceed $13,000,000 for the purpose of repairing and reconstructing City owned roads and drains ("1995 Bond"). The final maturity date of the 1995 Bond shall be no later than December 31, 2025 and the tax rate shall not exceed $21 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The City Council is submitting a new measure to the voters to issue additional general obligations bonds in the amount of $29,000,000 to make repairs to the remaining City owned residential and neighborhood roads and storm drains that the City was unable to repair with the proceeds of the 1995 Bond and to pay for the costs associated with issuance of the bonds. Privately owned streets will not be repaired with the proceeds from either the 1995 Bond or the proposed bond.

The final maturity date of the proposed general obligation bonds shall be no later than 40 years from the issuance of the bonds. The City estimates that the tax rate which needs to be levied to repay the proposed bonds should not exceed $25.00 per $100,000 of assessed value. The City estimates that the annual tax rate for all outstanding and proposed road and drain bonds should not exceed $36.50 per $100,000 of assessed value, which includes the estimated tax rate for the 1995 Bond and for these proposed bonds. After the bonds have been issued, it is possible that actual future assessed value could increase or decrease during the repayment period beyond the City's estimate. In that event, the actual tax rate required to pay the debt service on the bonds could be more or less than the City's estimated tax rate.

The City Council of the City of Lafayette adopted an ordinance on July 26, 2004, calling this election and submitting this Measure to a vote of the electors of the City. If a two-thirds majority voting on the Measure approve it, the City may proceed to sell the bonds, levy the appropriate taxes, and continue to repair the City's roads and storm drains with the bond proceeds. A "Yes" vote on Measure N is a vote to approve and allow for the City's sale of the bonds and imposition of the necessary taxes to pay for the bonds. A "No" vote on Measure N is a vote against the City's sale of the bonds and imposition of the necessary taxes to pay for the bonds.

John E. Brown, City Attorney, City of Lafayette

If these bonds are approved by 2/3 of voters, all of Lafayette's below standard roads will be improved over the next decade. Once the roads are restored, ongoing maintenance requires only existing funds.

If these bonds are rejected, deferred maintenance will increase, the budget gap will widen, and our roads will get worse.

The bonds will be financed with a property tax based on assessed value. This method provides the lowest financing and administration cost allowing more money to flow into roads. This bond will augment the 1995 tax, reaching a combined maximum of $36.50 per $100,000 in 2015 and then declining to $10.25 per $100,000 in the final year of 2039. Acknowledging that no tax method is perfectly fair, the turnover of properties will cause most parcels to be comparably taxed over the life of the bond since most lower-value properties will be reassessed upward over the next decade as they are sold.

Because it makes financial sense, this measure has broad support.

Please support Measure N.

Byrne Mathisen, President, Lafayette Homeowners Council

Donald E. Lively Lafayette Taxpayers Association

Larry A. Duson, President, Chamber of Commerce

Teresa B. Gerringer, President, Governing Board

Lafayette Elementary School District

Erling L. Horn, Mayor, City of Lafayette

The City now wants voters to approve more than twice the amount allocated by the 1995 measure, but doesn't specify which roads will be reconstructed and doesn't cap the taxes homeowners will pay! Is this responsible planning?

Our children will be burdened up to 40 years paying for roadwork that lasts only 20 years, requiring reconstruction when they become adults. This type of flawed fiscal policy is practiced by the State of California with terrible results. Is this responsible fiscal management?

Measure N proponents say no tax is fair but they make no attempt to structure a fair tax. Their proposed tax discriminates against large segments of Lafayette's citizens.

Is this responsible taxation?

They claim it is administratively burdensome to create a fair parcel tax. Yet everyone else is doing it. Some recently approved fair taxes not based on Prop. 13 include:

o Orinda's Measure A; Moraga's Measure K; Acalanes 2001 parcel tax: all school service measures passed with flat parcel taxes.

o Union City's Measure K (police and fire services); Oakland's Measure E (school services): passed with flat taxes with residential and commercial rates.

There are responsible ways to levy taxes. Why can't Lafayette do it too?

Let's fix our roads, but not with bad bonds.

Vote NO on Measure N!

http://www.LafayetteFairTaxes.com

LAFAYETTE CITIZENS FOR FAIR TAXES, GEORGE WONDERLY, PRESIDENT

Bonds are taxes.

Worse yet, the City will base both new taxes on Proposition 13 assessment value of your property. This creates vast inequities, penalizing some homeowners while favoring others.

Under this measure, your neighbor could pay hundreds of dollars MORE or LESS each year in taxes even though you both use Lafayette's roads equally and have homes of equal market value.

Taxes based on Prop. 13 valuations are WRONG! The facts:

o Your annual tax is estimated at $36.50 per $100,000 of Prop. 13 assessed value. The ballot wording is intentionally vague, leaving out this fact!

o This tax is only an estimate. Per City attorney's analysis (paragraph #4), if the bond debt increases, extra costs will be passed on to you with no additional voter approval required!

o The City estimates the useful life of roads at 20 to 25 years while financing debt runs 35 to 40 years.

o Issues of Lafayette's "Vistas" used to ensure placement of this bond measure on the ballot were highly slanted and conveniently timed by the City, prohibiting further public input!

o No apparent accounting of 1995 bond expenditures was provided to the public by the City prior to placing this new measure on the ballot.

o If you recently bought or remodeled or plan to improve your home, Measure "N" is bad for you. Imagine paying hundreds of dollars more than your neighbor...for 40 years!

If Lafayette roads need repair, the City must rethink this plan. For more information, visit us at http://www.LafayetteFairTaxes.com

JOIN LAFAYETTE CITIZENS FOR FAIR TAXES. VOTE NO ON MEASURE "N"!

LAFAYETTE CITIZENS FOR FAIR TAXES, George Wonderly, President

If this tax doesn't pass, our neighborhood roads won't be fixed. Not now. Not next year. Not during the next decade or even, perhaps during our lifetimes.

That's no way to run a city. Because our property values and childrens' safety depend on good roads, Lafayette's comprehensive plan + developed over five years by dozens of volunteers + addresses the problem:

__ It's limited. The ballot states clearly that this money can and will only be used to repair roads.

__ It's affordable. The maximum tax will be just $36.50 per $100,000 in assessed value per year, and it will decline over time. Projections show that, by 2039, the tax should be just $10 per $100,000.

__ It's fair. Since properties are reassessed as they are sold, most if not all properties will bear their fair tax share over the life of the tax.

__ It's efficient. Finance experts agree that bonds have the lowest administrative costs. Your money will pay for road repairs, not expensive consultants.

This is our last, best chance to fix our neighborhood roads. Don't let a fringe opponent wreck years of good civic planning.

For the facts about Measure N visit http://www.lovelafayette.org.

Vote YES on MEASURE N!

Byrne Mathisen, President ,Lafayette Homeowners Council

Donald E. Lively, Lafayette Taxpayers Association

Larry A. Duson, President, Chamber of Commerce

Erling L. Horn, Mayor, City of Lafayette

1. The best estimate of the tax which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the first series of bonds, based on estimated assessed valuations at the time of filing of this statement, is one and three-quarter cents per $100 ($17.50 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2005-06.

2. The best estimate of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the last series of bonds, based on estimated assessed valuations at the time of filing of this statement, is two and a half cents per $100 ($25.00 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2014-15.

3. The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue, based on estimated assessed valuations at the time of filing of this statement, is two and a half cents per $100 ($25.00 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2014-15.

The City considers the proposed bonds to be a continuation of the road and drain bond measure approved by voters in 1995, and considers the tax impact best expressed as the effective rate when the old and new bonds are combined. The City intends and expects that this combined rate will not exceed $36.50 per $100,000 of assessed value in any year that bonds are outstanding. As property values in Lafayette increase, the rate required for the old bonds will fall below the original projected $21 amount, and thus the new bonds will be structured to use more than $17.50 per $100,000 in order to maintain a combined rate which in any event is not expected to exceed $36.50.

Voters should note that estimated tax rates are based on the ASSESSED VALUE of taxable property on the County's official tax rolls, not on the property's market value, which could be more or less than the assessed value.

Attention of all voters is directed to the fact that the foregoing information is based upon the City's projections and estimates only, which are not binding upon the City. The actual tax rates and the years in which they will apply may vary from those presently estimated, due to variations from these estimates in the timing of bond sales, the amount of bonds sold at any given sale, market interest rates at the time of each bond sale, and actual assessed valuations over the term of repayment of the bonds. The actual dates of sale of said bonds and the amount sold at any given time will be determined by the City based on based on need for construction funds and other factors. The actual interest rates at which the bonds will be sold will depend on the bond market at the time of each sale. Actual future assessed valuation will depend upon the amount and value of taxable property within the City as determined by the County Assessor in the annual assessment and the equalization process.

Dated: 8/2/2004

Steven Falk, City Manager, City of Lafayette