Via Victor Valley Daily Press
Adelanto officials urging 50-year jail moratorium
Glasper wants measure on ballot along with reduced UUT
BROOKE SELF, DAILY PRESSAdelanto residents listen as other residents speak out at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015.
- Staff Writer
Posted Jan. 31, 2015 @ 8:27 pm
Updated Jan 31, 2015 at 8:35 PM
ADELANTO — The city won’t see another jail built in town for 50 years if voters approve a moratorium that’s being discussed for a ballot measure in November.
A letter passed out to residents at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting was prepared by Councilman Charley Glasper and proposed the initiative as well as a reduced utility-user tax.
“I hear what you’re saying when you come in front of that podium and say ‘no more prisons’ and all of this,” Glasper said in his council comments. “But you got to understand we walked into a situation that had already been put in motion. That means subsequent to that approval, no more will be brought in.”
Glasper was referring to the City Council’s recent approval of a jail plan to construct a brand new 3,264-bed facility on the Adelanto-Victorville border to house overflow Los Angeles County inmates. While many citizens have come out opposed to the plan, city officials touted the extra police protection, potential economic impact and added jobs to the region, as well as a $3.6 million up-front payment if developers break ground this year. The large sum would instantly alleviate the city’s fiscal crisis this year, though additional revenues would be needed in the future to sustain a balanced budget, city officials said previously.
“We’re trying to educate the citizens out there on what we know and are looking at — not what we’re doing,” Mayor Rich Kerr said after the letter was passed out. “We’re researching it and trying to get things going for you.”
Kerr emphasized that the utility tax may not be needed if additional businesses decided to build on Highway 395 in the next year. However, no new plans for businesses were announced and it’s unlikely a single business could bring in $2.6 million in revenue overnight to stave off the city’s deficit, officials said.
While trying to convince residents of the urgency of a possible 3-percent, 4-percent or 5-percent UUT, Glasper on Wednesday told residents that their tax dollars were not enough to pay for basic city services. Contracts with San Bernardino County Fire and Sheriff’s departments alone cost the city more than $7 million annually, taking up about three quarters of the city’s revenues.
According to the letter, a 3-percent UUT would cost residents about $9 a month on average and garner approximately $800,000 to $1.1 million in revenue for the city; 4-percent would cost residents about $12 a month and the city would collect $1.3 million to $1.5 million. Lastly, a 5-percent tax would collect $1.8 million to $2 million and cost residents about $15 a month.
Glasper prodded residents to agree to the tax as a show of “helping your city.”
“We’re going to do the very best with what we’re working with,” he said. “But when we come and ask you for help to pay $10 to $12 more a month to help us bridge this budget (deficit) and you turn around and say ‘uh-uh, I’m not doing it’ — then you’re saying you don’t want to help your city; you don’t want to step up to the plate and help.”
Former Adelanto mayor Cari Thomas said she was appalled by the new mayor’s support of the UUT after he told voters during campaign season that he was adamantly against it.
“You’ve been in office less than 60 days and two of the biggest issues that you campaigned against, you’ve flip-flopped on,” Thomas said. “What is that showing residents of Adelanto? You’re not trustworthy.”
Thomas also questioned the numbers presented in the letter, stating that they were misleading.
“My utilities are close to $1,000 a month and they’re using a base of $300,” she said. “That’s misleading to our residents by not even using figures that are remotely accurate to what are real. You’re trying to gain trust by using false figures.”
A message left with the city’s interim finance director to verify the figures presented was not immediately returned.
Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf or @DPEduNews.
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