TheREAL FACTS About Measure M
- Measure M is a tax increase. The 8% Rialto Utility Users Tax (UUT) was given to the city council and all they did is abuse the tax and waste time and money. Now to remove any responsibility to the voters they are giving themselves a permanent TAX increase FOREVER!!!!!!!
- This levy on utility bills provides roughly $14 million in revenue per year. These funds go into the General Fund and are abused by the city. The mayor and council play games with your taxes and name buildings and parks after their political allies. The council needs this money to cover the MILLIONS in Lawsuits that they have single handily brought on Rialto Tax Payers.
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To scare you into voting for this measure the city is using the old scare tactic of taking away police and fire services. Councilman Ed Scott has been Quoted saying that rialto police the bottom of the barrel.
- The police never respond to complaints and are causing more problems then they solve. Rialto Police are famous for the drive by they do when they respond to a call. This consists of cruising by the location at 45 MPH. Rialto Fire spends more time outside the city under a mutual aide agreement than they do inside the city. Also they are preparing to stack a Fire Tax on top of this one next year. ALL WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT!
- Reducing the Public Works Department by 11 positions, will make little change since the city looks horrid as it is so nothing will change.
- Had it not been for dedicated people like us the Council was HELL bent on charging this tax on all seniors!
- Rialto Fire charges annual fees to pick you up in an emergency leading to more people avoiding calling for help and risking further injury by waiting or self transport.
- Rialto charges you a TRASH TAX because BURRTEC trucks are too heavy for Rialto streets but we can’t charge BURRTEC for it because they are political allies of Mayor Robertson.
- $100,000 a year is paid so that our elected leaders can travel all over the country on your DIME.
- Even if this measure passes Rialto will still be bankrupt in 4 years. The only difference is you will be stuck with a Utility Users Tax that NEVER ENDS!!!!!
- The people signed onto this TAX are doing so to keep the flow of your tax money into their pockets. A small handful have been bullied into signing on to this tax. Multiple people have reached out saying that the Mayor said get on board or else.
rialtonow 
May 01, 2018 @ 17:28:14
This response is point by point:
• Measure M is a continuation of a Utility User Tax that is already in place. Should the voters consent to continue it at the same rate of 8%, it is NOT a tax increase.
• The revenue raised by Measure M will provide funding for many public services, especially public safety services. Without this funding there will be significant cuts to those services. The Rialto Recreation & Community Services Department provides many necessary services to our community, and the naming of a park or facility does not change in any manner the services rendered or the positive results to our youth who receive the bulk of those services. Every aspect and level of government gets sued. It’s the litigious nature of our society that brings this about, and I do not see where Rialto incurs a disproportional number of suits when compared to other cities.
• What complaints are you talking about? Citizen complaints called in about a crime or nuisance, or are you talking about Officer Complaints? When a caller phones the Rialto Police Department about a crime or nuisance, the call is entered automatically into a Computer Assisted Dispatching (CAD) System and is processed according to law and policy. It doesn’t go away or get ignored. Our Officers begin a shift “calls down,” which means the Officer has calls already waiting for his or her response while calls continue to come in. This call load affects the Officers’ ability to be proactive during their patrols. If a citizen makes a call and does not see a response, it is possible the call was handled without the need for the Officer to be at the specific location. For years, our department has encouraged citizens to call back and inquire if they do not see the response they were seeking.
To assert that our Officers’ response to calls for service is to “Famously” drive by at 45 miles per hour is egregious. It takes a lot to be a cop. You have to want to serve people, and you will sacrifice your personal and your family life to do so. You will see things that sicken you, and you will be assaulted, injured and possibly killed if you are ever selected to do the job. So far this year 48 Law Enforcement Officers have died in the line of duty in America. We owe them, and the three Officers who have sacrificed their lives for this community, more than disparagement. We owe them, men and women alike, encouragement. We are greatly saddened by your implication that Rialto Police Officers do not care about their citizens, as this is simply not true.
The Rialto Police Department responds to complaints about service in a timely and professional manner. Those complaints are documented by policy and law, and they can be handled at various levels including supervision, management, executive, or through the Professional Standards process. Complaints are not ignored, and your implication that they are ignored is a lie.
The response time of the Rialto Fire Department is second to none in California and nationwide. Our survival rate for cardiac arrest victim(s) is at or over 70%, when the death rate from the very same emergency nationally is generally at or over 70%. We have a fire department staffed with the finest Firefighter Paramedics there is, and they serve with great professionalism in a caring and resourceful manner. We are fortunate to have them. Mutual Aid Agreements are just that, and when there is a call for mutual aid, they go, and when we require the services of allied agencies, they come. I’ve seen this on structure fires in Rialto and the system works. Calamities come uninvited and there is no schedule, and the Mutual Aid Agreements we enjoy are in place for exactly that. We have heard nothing of an additional tax to support fire services. Where is your proof for this, or is this just another inaccuracy?
Public Works employees provide for the maintenance and repair of “our city’s” infrastructure. They maintain the streets, the parks, facilities, vehicles, and landscaping. Like other departments they are understaffed and must prioritize their efforts. The city is not deplorable in appearance, and there are many improvements already here or in planning, and to imply that losing a significant number of public works employees will have no impact is ridiculous.
• Seniors can exempt themselves from the UUT. It’s a simple process that takes only a few minutes.
• Rialto Fire Department does not “charge” an annual fee for emergency transport. We are fortunate to have a offered ambulance subscription program that costs about $5.00 per month that will cover any person who is ambulance transported from your residence. My brother became very ill and nearly died while visiting us. We called 911 and the services he received saved his life, and there was NO cost for the transportation to the hospital. We would add that the average private ambulance transport in this area costs about $1400. Should there be an emergency that requires transport to the hospital, the victim will be transported regardless of whether or not they have the voluntary subscription. However, the fact remains that for the cost of a cup of Starbucks (per month) your savings is significant in the event you should need ambulance service. To insinuate that they “charge” this fee is a lie. It is available to those who subscribe to it, and we encourage you to do so. It is simple. You ask for it and it is added to your sewer bill.
• The rising costs of street maintenance require additional funding. Trash trucks are heavy and they damage roads. It’s our trash they pick up, and we all have to share in the cost related to doing it. We don’t believe any interpersonal relationship between the mayor or any elected official and trash removal service companies is the crux for some overburdening tax on our citizens. And, what overburdening tax are you talking about? Again, you say it, but you where are your “facts” to support your allegation?
• Renaissance Center is but one example of retail growth in Rialto. That project didn’t just land there. It took vision, it took lobbying, and it took travel to get it here. Considering the number of elected officials we have, the amount spent on travel is minimal. Progress is not free.
• Rialto will not be bankrupt in four years, and again, senior citizens are exempt from the tax. We all have to pay for government to function on the local, regional, state and federal levels. It is one the costs for democracy that we must all share equally.
• No one is pocketing our tax dollars. The money goes to providing services to the community, not the enrichment of those who support it. Kathy and I were previously exempted from paying the tax as we are both seniors; however, in light of the fiscal challenges our community faces, we reversed the exemption. I also have had a business in Rialto for more than 20 years, and we continued to pay the UUT for those utilities also. Anyone who knows us is well aware we aren’t bullied into anything. Nor has any person been bullied into being a proponent of Measure M by the Mayor or anyone else.
The inaccuracies in this article are appalling, and it is disheartening to see anyone cast aspersions upon the character of our public safety personnel and departments. It is even more disheartening that one would do it for base reasons. Sure there are challenges, and we as a community can meet those challenges with clear thinking uncluttered by personal or political vindictiveness.
We don’t meet challenges by running away from them, and we cannot run away from the realities of self-government. That reality is that it costs to live in a free society where we share equally, citizen to citizen, the fiscal burdens brought by public services. Kathy and I are willing to pay our share, and so should all of us.
It’s past the time to look at what will be the cost of NOT passing Measure M. More than just the 90 employees who will not be here, it is what they do when they ARE here. What firefighter or police officer will not be here to answer that emergency call? What pothole will go unfilled? What child will not have an after school program to help keep them from crime and gangs? You tell us, David, who those people are…these magical incarnations are who will answer the call, perform the CPR, stop the criminal, repair our infrastructure. Certainly not you!
May 01, 2018 @ 17:30:04
it will be interesting to see if David Phillips walks the walk or if he just talks the talk. We will see if this response is still up here after he reads it…
May 02, 2018 @ 23:58:01
It is very important to give every man or women the benefit of the doubt of their intentions about any position they might have. After reading this post on No on Measure M, I find this post very disappointing. To Terry Thompson, Thank You very much for a well thought out and concise rebuttal. This post on No on Measure M, is not helpful to anyone. Instead of giving the community the facts on both sides (pros and cons), this was just an outright attack on everything this community stands for. It was a vicious attack against individuals in the City Council and Mayor, coming from someone who apparently has a personal vendetta against all. If you feel this way, that is your right. I find it wrong to use this platform to misinform innocent residents on Measure M. To you and anyone else that is not willing to help this City move forward in a positive constructive way, we will be okay with or without your support.
May 03, 2018 @ 00:46:40
Strong words by the man who works to shutdown any discussion of the dirty antics going on in city hall. We will be using yours and Terry’s comments to show how blindly following corrupt leaders will continue the downfall of rialto.
May 03, 2018 @ 09:13:03
I have been a resident of Rialto for over 20 years my family lives in Rialto and my husband is a teacher for Rialto Unified School District. It is for these reasons that I agreed to serve on the Rialto budget advisory committee. And it is for these reasons that I have an invested interest in doing whatever I can to assist and help our community grow and flourish.
I am also a civil engineer who works and has worked my entire career as a public employee for various cities. My background, education, training and experience provides me with a very unique perspective of what I perceive to be happening within our City’s Administration as well as Governing Body.
1. Measure M is the current utility tax which we all pay as residents. Therefore there isn’t much change in the cost that we are currently paying. However it does not have a sunset which means it stays in perpetuity as a voted in tax which can be increased or decreased by the City Council.
> if you believe that our elected officials are not to be trusted with the ability to increase or decrease this tax as they may see necessary, then yes I can understand that there would be a problem with voting for this measure.
> but if you remember that our elected officials are voted in by the residents of Rialto. Those residence that are engaged in the community and that vote can be apart of the decision to increase or decrease this tax.
I too I’m concerned with the administration as well as the governing board for our city. But I also understand that we as residents must become engaged with a decision making for our city I must also assume some responsibility for the actions which we help voting as well as those that we choose not to participate in.
My personal View is that we currently have very competent police and fire professionals and I wish to keep supporting them through voting yes on the measure M. City Administration has had a tremendous amount of turnover which has resulted in very poor public improvements for our residents. I believe our currently elected officials have been diligently working to provide direction and focus to our city staff with the goal of improving and expediting the public improvements for our community. That task is certainly not an easy one and I am very aware of that since I am a public employee as well for another community. I thank them for all of their work and as a resident I plan to stay engaged and assit are elected officials in any capacity that I can offer to improve our city and its entirety.
I would just like to put forth, for anyone who reads this blog is to remember we are already currently paying the 8% utility tax and have been doing so for the last 15 years. The M measure would be the same except that it would allow our elected officials to increase it and/or decrease it as the community felt it was necessary. But we need to be engaged as residents to help our elected officials in making those decisions.
May 03, 2018 @ 18:45:10
Lupe well put and I’m glad you pointed out that once this is voted in the city council can raise the rate without taxpayer input
May 05, 2018 @ 23:39:50
David,
My goal has always been to inform our community and encourage involvement. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion however, I’m sure you will agree, no one is entitled to their own facts. I personally encourage freedom of speech and thought. People should be allowed to formulate their own opinions. That is the reason I believe we should be conscientious and differentiate when we make a statement, whether it is a fact or our opinion/belief. I understand that you have very clear and formulated beliefs and doubts about Measure M, as we all do; however, I believe that your opinions, although very valid to you, should be stated as just that, “Opinions and Beliefs”.
I am glad that you publish this blog and allow for all opinions to be heard. I just think that stating opinions as facts just color the information incorrectly.
My statement never implies that council is “only” able to increase the tax without tax payer input. Let’s be clear. Fact: Our elected governing board would be able to “Increase” or “Decrease” the tax.
When you choose to omit the fact that our elected board can also select to decrease the tax, you are interjecting your personal opinion and skewing the facts. Although you may have your own valid reasons for believing that, it is your opinion and it should be stated as such.
I personally do not share your point of view on the fact I have stated above and I just want to be clear about it.
May 06, 2018 @ 00:22:50
Yes they can do both but after the information we received from the city manager do you ever see an ability to decrease the tax?
May 03, 2018 @ 16:08:20
Mr Phillips
Once again you spread your message of hate and discontent. You know nothing of what you speak. As to your quoting me once again another lie of which you have no proof. More fake news! I totally support our police department and the men and woman who sacrifice their lives everyday. I would put our department in the top five nation wide.
Rialto has so many great things going for it and it’s because of its forward thinking leadership and great residents. You attack everyone you don’t like with your so called press status. Perhaps you should think about getting city business licenses for you many businesses that you run out of the city. You want to help stop your ridiculous calls for service to the Rialto police department which is over 200 calls in the last 12 months. Talk about wasting taxpayers money you’re the guy. Remove your slanderous misquotes. Such a waste!
May 03, 2018 @ 18:49:31
Mr Scott,
Funny but I cant remember calling the police more than a handful of times in the last 12 months. As to your statement you can thank the San Bernardino Sun for that nugget.
https://www.sbsun.com/2011/04/23/pension-quagmire/
May 06, 2018 @ 19:41:53
I do believe our governing board would and will work towards eventually decreasing. I also believe we need to assist them by being engaged residents.
May 07, 2018 @ 22:47:44
This is very upseting. I hope all Residents in the city of Rialto educate them selves and vote No on M.