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Measure G Calls In With UUT Changes
By Kurt Helin
Editor
Phone lines that run into a Long Beach home get charged a 5% Utility Users Tax (UUT), as does electricity and natural gas usage.
Most cell phones face that same charge, but recent federal court rulings have caused local definitions of telephone service to be questioned. So city officials are asking the voters in Long Beach to ratify what is taking place now, and to cover any future new technology, including computer-based communication..
Measure G on the Nov. 4 ballot would reaffirm the city’s UUT to cover wireless phones. There would be no change in rates. It will take a simple majority of Long Beach voters to approve Measure G and extend the tax.
The UUT itself is nothing new in Long Beach (or other cities), having been levied in the city since 1970. The money generated by the UUT goes into the city’s general fund, which pays for the police and fire departments, libraries and the majority of other city services. The phone portion of the UUT currently generates about $15 million a year, according to city records.
The last real change in the UUT came in 2001, when voters opted to decrease the tax from 10% to 5%. That was phased in over several years and is now the standard.
Measure G does not change the rate of the UUT, which would stay at 5%. Also remaining would be the exemptions for low-income seniors, the disabled and others.
The City Council put the measure on the ballot, voting unanimously and saying this was simply an update of the UUT to keep it in step with the times. More and more people, particularly younger people, no longer have landlines in their homes and use just cellular phones.
While most of the discussion of the city ballot measures has focused on Measure I (the city infrastructure bond measure), the Long Beach Taxpayers Association has come out in opposition to Measure G.
“Measure G will allow Long Beach to continue taxing cell phones and any wireless communication service, i.e.; text messaging, VOIP, etc. More importantly, Measure G allows future technologies to be taxed without voter approval,” said Kathy Ryan, president of the Long Beach Taxpayers Association, in a released statement opposing the measure.
Long Beach officials said they wanted to move this measure forward now because of potential federal legislation that could block implementation of the tax in the future.
Voters will have the final say next Tuesday.
Most cell phones face that same charge, but recent federal court rulings have caused local definitions of telephone service to be questioned. So city officials are asking the voters in Long Beach to ratify what is taking place now, and to cover any future new technology, including computer-based communication..
Measure G on the Nov. 4 ballot would reaffirm the city’s UUT to cover wireless phones. There would be no change in rates. It will take a simple majority of Long Beach voters to approve Measure G and extend the tax.
The UUT itself is nothing new in Long Beach (or other cities), having been levied in the city since 1970. The money generated by the UUT goes into the city’s general fund, which pays for the police and fire departments, libraries and the majority of other city services. The phone portion of the UUT currently generates about $15 million a year, according to city records.
The last real change in the UUT came in 2001, when voters opted to decrease the tax from 10% to 5%. That was phased in over several years and is now the standard.
Measure G does not change the rate of the UUT, which would stay at 5%. Also remaining would be the exemptions for low-income seniors, the disabled and others.
The City Council put the measure on the ballot, voting unanimously and saying this was simply an update of the UUT to keep it in step with the times. More and more people, particularly younger people, no longer have landlines in their homes and use just cellular phones.
While most of the discussion of the city ballot measures has focused on Measure I (the city infrastructure bond measure), the Long Beach Taxpayers Association has come out in opposition to Measure G.
“Measure G will allow Long Beach to continue taxing cell phones and any wireless communication service, i.e.; text messaging, VOIP, etc. More importantly, Measure G allows future technologies to be taxed without voter approval,” said Kathy Ryan, president of the Long Beach Taxpayers Association, in a released statement opposing the measure.
Long Beach officials said they wanted to move this measure forward now because of potential federal legislation that could block implementation of the tax in the future.
Voters will have the final say next Tuesday.
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