WHY SHOULD ARDEN ARCADE BECOME A CITY?
Sacramento County has reached the limit of its ability to provide adequate municipal services. Massive County Budget deficits in coming years will mean either less municipal services or tax increases by the County.
Cityhood does not mean increased taxes. According to John Coupal, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, "Incorporation does not automatically result in a tax increase for the new city unless the ballot measure forming the new city includes provision for new or increased taxes." The ballot measure submitted by the Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee DOES NOT include any provision for new or increased taxes. Sacramento County has formed County Service Area No. 11 as a taxing vehicle to fund sheriff and animal control services in the urbanized unincorporated areas which includes Arden Arcade.
Cityhood DOES NOT MEAN an additional layer of government. Some would like to believe that cityhood means another layer of government. This is not true. The new city would REPLACE the County and provide more efficient and effective municipal services, tailored to Arden Arcade rather than Sacramento County as a whole. The County would become like other Counties in the state and continue to perform state mandated services, such as health and welfare services, and operation of the criminal justice and courts systems.
Cityhood will mean enhanced police services. Police services are now divided between the Highway Patrol and County Sherriff. Creation of the City combines services in a single City Police Command and Control Center. City Police would enforce all laws, including traffic & speeding laws. Decisions regarding priorities for service and funding would be made by the Mayor and City Council, and, therefore, be more sensitive to the concerns and needs of Arden Arcade residents and businesses.
Cityhood will bring New Funding to our Community without new taxes. As a City, Arden Arcade will receive an average of just under $7,000,000/year of new revenue for use in improving life in Arden Arcade. To qualify for the new revenue, Arden Arcade must become a city. The new revenue comes from an existing tax that we pay when we register our cars and trucks. This money is currently distributed to other cities in California and is NOT available to Sacramento County government. This new revenue will never be available to Sacramento County whether or not Arden Arcade becomes a city. If we do not become a city, this new revenue will be lost and Arden Arcade will likely face County tax increases or reduced services provided by the County.
Cityhood will bring true Local Control and true Local Accountability. Residents and businesses in Arden Arcade, through their elected Mayor and City Councilmembers, will make decisions that affect our quality of life. As residents of Arden Arcade, the Mayor and City Council would have to live with the consequences of their decisions the same way that we do. Under the current regime, decisions are made for Arden Arcade by people who do not live in Arden Arcade- the County Board of Supervisors who may decide that other communities are higher priority than Arden Arcade.
The Mayor will be elected at large and six City Councilmembers will be elected by district. The Mayor and City Council members would be residents of Arden Arcade. Each councilmember would represent about 13,000 people. Our one County Supervisor represents about 250,000 people. City government is closer to the people, more accessible, more responsive and provides the people with better accountability. The current Sacramento County Community Council provides very limited local decision making and can be overruled by the County Board of Supervisors.
Cityhood is financially feasible. A study completed in May 2005 by recognized experts (Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.) concluded that Cityhood is feasible.
The expert analysis completed in May 2005 has been updated to include the vehicle license fees and the boundaries of the new city. The updated analysis shows an average annual surplus during the first 9 years of about $15,000,000 per year.
While the May 2005 study shows the new city to be financially feasible. A new financial analysis will, however, be performed by independent experts under the direction of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) during the public review process.
County Continues to get Revenue from Arden Arcade. In 1992, Sacramento County in succeeded in having the Legislature pass a law requiring revenue neutrality, which means that the County continues to receive tax revenue that is greater than the cost paid by the County to provide municipal services as determined during LAFCo's processing of the Arden Arcade cityhood proposal. Other areas of the County should not suffer as a result of Arden Arcade cityhood because of the revenue neutrality requirement which will continue for 20-25 years and because the County is free to develop the tax base in other unincorporated areas.
The County receives tax revenues generated in Arden Arcade that are greater than the amount it spends in providing municipal services in Arden Arcade. The expert analysis completed in May 2005 reported that approximately $13 million, or 40% of the tax revenue generated in Arden Arcade, is used by the County elsewhere. This analysis will be repeated as part of the financial analysis that will be performed by LAFCo.
