Arcadia’s, mayor, Sho Tay, gave an update on the city’s financial problems and the plan to solve them. The city is facing an $8,000,000 deficit. A Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee, chaired by former Arcadia Mayor Mickey Segal, was formed. This was a group of civic volunteers who reviewed the City’s General Fund long-range financial forecast and made recommendations to the City Council for revenue producing and cost cutting measures. The key recommendation was for the City to consider increasing the City’s local sales tax rate by ¾ of one cent in order to maintain services at current levels. A growing number of California cities with large malls and retail centers—including other cities in Los Angeles County—have enacted similar measures as significant percentages of sales tax revenues are paid by out-of-town shoppers. The City Council unanimously placed the Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other local services. As police and fire are 60% of the City’s General Fund budget, the Council acted to give Arcadia voters the option of generating more locally controlled tax revenue to maintain public safety and other City services at current levels. Unless more revenue is generated, as many as two-dozen police officers and firefighters could potentially be cut. Maintaining City neighborhoods, streets, parks, and other public facilities is important to the community. Funds are required to keep the City’s infrastructure at current levels. Mayor Tay stressed the importance of the ballot measure and urged members to consider it thoughtfully.