Pasadena business owners and residents got their first look at two potential new taxes on Monday, June 22, when the city's Finance Committee discussed a 0.25 percent use tax and a parcel tax that together could generate more than $30 million a year if they reach the November 2026 ballot.

The committee, chaired by Mayor Victor M. Gordo with Councilmembers Rick Cole and Gene Masuda present, also reviewed proposed capital budget shifts totaling millions of dollars and a $300,000 youth internship grant. Councilmember Tyron Hampton was absent. No post-meeting vote records have been published; the items below were on the agenda and discussed, but whether the committee formally forwarded each to the full City Council has not been confirmed.

Potential new taxes

Staff presented a menu of revenue options, including a use tax estimated at about $11 million annually and a parcel tax exceeding $20 million that could fund fire service or street maintenance, according to a Pasadena Now report based on the staff agenda. Non-tax alternatives such as freeway billboards and paid parking in the Arroyo were also on the table.

The presentation carried no staff recommendation. The City Council retains final authority over any ballot measure and would need to act by early August to place a tax on the November 2026 ballot.

The discussion arrives as L.A. County's Measure ER, a half-cent healthcare sales tax declared victorious on June 9, prepares to take effect October 1. Speaking about Measure ER's impact on local businesses, Paul Little, head of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, told the Los Angeles Times: "It's just terrible timing. Costs are going through the roof for everything."

Street resurfacing and Olympic route

The committee reviewed proposed capital budget amendments that would shift $2,264,523 from nine completed or inactive projects, plus $232,400 in private capital, into the citywide street resurfacing and ADA improvement program. That would raise the program's Fiscal Year 2027 budget to approximately $11.1 million, according to the staff report.

Separately, $7.17 million in Metro Active Transport grant funds would go toward the Pasadena Rose Bowl Multimodal Olympic Route, a walking and biking corridor between Memorial Park Station and the Rose Bowl for the 2028 Games. The project uses no city general funds.

The capital package also includes $300,000 each for pedestrian hybrid beacons at Lake Avenue and Elizabeth Street and at Lincoln Avenue and Toolen Place, plus a $500,000 Lower Arroyo Park feasibility study covering 37 acres of city-owned open space, funded by a Measure A grant.

Youth internship grant

The committee took up a $300,000 grant from International Trade Education Programs, which does business as EXP, that would fund paid summer internships for approximately 150 young people, each receiving up to 80 hours of work experience. The Foothill Workforce Development Board would administer the program, and staff reported no impact to the General Fund.

What's next

The Finance Committee is an advisory body; the full City Council must vote to finalize any item. The committee's next meeting is tentatively scheduled for July 27, according to the city's events calendar. If the council pursues a November ballot measure, it must act by early August.