HomeMy WebLinkAbout540ORDINANCE NO. 540
AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF
IRWINDALE, CALIFORNIA, INCREASING THE SPECIAL
TAX ON MINING AND PROCESSING ACTIVITIES WITH
SUCH REVENUE PAID INTO THE MINING IMPACT FUND
TO PAY FOR STUDYING, QUANTIFYING, ANALYZING,
CORRECTING, AND MITIGATING NEGATIVE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS CAUSED BY MINING AND
PROCESSING ACTIVITIES
WHEREAS, on June 3, 1997, the voters of the City of Irwindale, by an approximately 95
percent favorable vote, adopted a Charter amendment which, among other things, declared the
City's authority to levy special taxes on mining and processing operations in accordance with
applicable laws and procedures; and
WHEREAS, current and past mining and processing operations, which cover over
80 percent of the non -publicly -owned land area of the City, at 17 different sites, some covering
as much as 450 acres with permitted depths to 275 feet, impose severe negative environmental
impacts upon City residents, businesses, properties, and visitors; and
WHEREAS, the environmental impacts from mining and processing operations include,
but are not limited to, deterioration of streets and other public infrastructure facilities;
degradation of air quality; public health and safety hazards; increased noise; slope stability and
slope erosion problems; security and safety concerns; visual blight; water quality impacts;
problems with sand and particulate matter; and loss of developable land for other uses; and
WHEREAS, on December 2, 1997, the voters of the City of Irwindale, by an
approximately 91 percent favorable vote, adopted a special tax of $0.0974 per ton of material
processed, extracted, or produced to pay the cost of a comprehensive Mining Study on the
environmental impacts of mining and processing activities; and
WHEREAS, the City has conducted an eight-month Mining Study, through an
independent consultant selected in a competitive process, which Mining Study cost almost
$200,000; and
WHEREAS, principal recommendations of the Mining Study include that the City does
an insufficient job of monitoring air, water, and noise impacts; that slopes at various locations are
probably too steep and need further analysis; that additional measures should be taken to screen
and secure mining operations; that some $17 million dollars of street and other infrastructure
deficiencies are related to mining activities; that current financial assurances and reclamation
plans are inadequate; and
WHEREAS, current mining operations are a relatively unproductive use of the City's
land, producing a return to the City of less than ten percent (10%) of what could be expected
from a land use mix more typical of Southern California communities; and
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WHEREAS, in order to finance the recommendations made by the Mining Study to
enhance the City's monitoring and enforcement program and to pay for construction, repair,
replacement of streets and infrastructure, it is necessary to increase the current special tax of
$0.0974 per ton of material processed, extracted, or produced, such monies to be placed in the
Mining Impact Fund and only used for the purposes set forth herein; and
WHEREAS, this Measure is part of a comprehensive program, including a general
mining tax increase to be placed in the General Fund to pay for the City's general operations; the
revision of the mining tax to establish different rates for extraction and processing; the reduction
of the dumping tax to encourage reclamation activities; the increase of certain other taxes to
reduce dependence on the mining tax; but this Measure is treated as a separate Measure as it is a
special tax; and
WHEREAS, as the Mining Study has determined that the current market price of
Irwindale aggregate ranges from $7.00 to $9.00 per ton, and the collective mining tax, if these
measures are enacted, both the special and general taxes, would be $0.60 per ton, which is
approximately 7.5 percent of the cost of the product; the City believes that such percentage is fair
and reasonable and not confiscatory; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 37101 authorizes municipalities to
regulate and tax the operation of businesses within their limits, and the City has imposed a tax on
mining and processing activities within the City since the adoption of Ordinance 379 in 1985, as
amended by Ordinance 450 in 1991; and
WHEREAS, California Constitution Article XIIIC, Sec. 2(d) requires that in order for a
city to impose or increase any special tax, that tax must be submitted to the electorate and
approved by a two-thirds vote.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF IRWINDALE,
CALIFORNIA, HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. That Title 3 of the Irwindale Municipal Code is amended by adding
Section 3.18.040 to read as follows:
"Section 3.18.040. Special Tax for Excavation and Processing of Rock
Materials.
A. Special Tax Imposed for Excavation. There is imposed upon each person
or entity engaged in the business of excavating rock materials from any real property
located within the City, for the purpose of commercial use thereof other than on the
property where so excavated, a special tax of twenty-two cents ($0.22) per ton of rock
material excavated and subject to tax under Section 3.18.030.
B. Special Tax Imposed for Processing. There is imposed upon each person
or entity engaged in the business of processing of rock materials at any location within the
City a special tax of eleven cents ($0.11) per ton of rock materials so processed.
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C. Excavation and Processing Taxes Cumulative. In the event any person or
entity excavates and thereafter processes the same material, each of such operations
within the City, the foregoing taxes in Subsections A and B of this Section shall be
cumulative.
D. Special Tax is Additional to Existine Taxes. Assessments. and Fees. The
special taxes imposed by this section are in addition to any other taxes, assessments, or
fees which may be or are imposed by the Irwindale Municipal Code or other applicable
law or City action. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any person or entity
which engages in extracting and/or processing within the City would pay the general taxes
under Section 3.18.030, as well as the special taxes under this Section. However, these
special taxes may only be expended pursuant to the provisions of Section 3.18.050 and
are limited to the purposes set forth therein.
E. Cost of Living Adjustment. The special taxes imposed in Subsections A
and B above shall be annually adjusted based upon the timing and criteria specified for
business license taxes in Section 5.08.490.
Section 3.18.050. Use of Special Tax Proceeds.
A. The taxes imposed by this section are special taxes pursuant to California
Constitution Article XMC, Sec. 1(d), and shall not be used for "general governmental
purposes," as that term is used in California Constitution Article XIUC, Sec. 1(a). For
purposes of this Section, the district subject to these taxes shall consist of all that territory
within the corporate limits of the City.
B. The revenues collected from the special taxes imposed by this Section shall
be placed into a "Mining Impact Fund", which Fund shall be administered by the Director
of Finance as a special fund of the City.
C. The purpose of the Mining Impact Fund is to provide a means of financing
the costs of studying, quantifying, analyzing, monitoring, administering, correcting, and
mitigating negative environmental impacts from mining and processing activities,
including but not limited to the following impacts:
Deterioration of streets and other public infrastructure facilities;
2. Degradation of air quality;
3. Public health and safety hazards caused by access routes, traffic
volumes, and usage conflicts;
4. Increased noise;
5. Slope stability and slope erosion problems;
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6. Security and safety concerns;
7. Visual blight;
8. Water quality impacts;
9. Sand, gravel, and particulate matter on public rights-of-way and
properties;
10. Remediation of toxic or contaminated property resulting from
mining and processing activities;
11. Reclamation of property damaged by mining and processing
activities; and
12. Any other impacts resulting from mining and processing which
affect public health, safety, and welfare or public property.
D. The special taxes collected under this section may be expended for any
purpose reasonably related to studying, quantifying, analyzing, monitoring,
administering, enforcing, correcting, or mitigating negative impacts in the City from
mining and processing activities, whether or not such impacts are specifically listed
herein. This includes the costs of professional services related thereto such as
engineering, auditing, monitoring, financial, planning, architectural, and other consulting
services; City administrative expenses; and legal expenses. Legal services may include
defending any legal challenge to the validity of this Chapter or any measure or action
taken pursuant hereto, the cost of analyzing and preparing any implementation measure or
strategy, and the cost of any legal action related to the enforcement of any program.
E. This section is intended to create a funding source to be utilized by the
City for the purposes set forth herein. Any expenditure shall be made in accordance with
applicable law, whether set forth in the Charter, ordinance, rule, or regulation of City or
other governmental agency of appropriate jurisdiction, or State or Federal law. All such
expenditures shall have a public purpose and be authorized by valid and applicable law."
SECTION 2. Effect of Other Measures. Section 5.08.435 is repealed. The
current special tax measure is found in Title 5 dealing with Business Taxes, Licenses, and
Regulations. The intent is to consolidate the Mining Tax Measures in Chapter 3.18 under Title 3
dealing with Revenue and Finance. If this Measure passes, and the general tax measure creating
Chapter 3.18 fails, then the City Council may renumber the provisions hereof as the Council
deems appropriate.
SECTION 3. Modification by Council. It is expressly understood that, as the
City proceeds to implement the program for mitigation of mining environmental impacts through
the special tax, that changes may be necessitated by changing environmental, regulatory, and
economic factors. Therefore, notwithstanding this Ordinance's adoption by the People, the City
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Council shall be free to amend any provision hereof through the regular process of adoption of
ordinances under State law, provided that the amendment is consistent with the intent hereof, and
furthers the purposes of this Chapter, except that the tax rate may only be increased by the
People.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any phrase, clause, sentence, subsection, or section
of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity
of any other part of this Ordinance. The People hereby declare that they would have passed this
Ordinance and each phrase, clause, sentence, subsection, or section hereof irrespective of the fact
that any one or more of such phrases, clauses, sentences, subsections, or sections had been
declared invalid. Any court reviewing the validity of this Ordinance shall interpret it insofar as
possible as to make it valid and binding, and to carry out the intent of the voters to create a fund
to pay for the foregoing measures to the full extent permitted by law.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the People on the 2' day of March, 1999.
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