Dive Summary:

• Voters in Rialto, Calif.,have approved the renewal of a utility-users tax that will bring in about $11 million annually; regulators said that the measure was needed to prevent budget cuts elsewhere.
• The utility-users tax has been extended for another five years and accounts for nearly a quarter of the city's overall $49.3 million budget.
• The tax is 8 percent and passed with 63 percent of the vote; just 4,172 out of 39,539 voters weighted in on the tax.

From the article:

"... The city cut its deficit from $7.6 million to $2.1 million, and still carries roughly $17 million in economic reserves.

But with the loss of its redevelopment agency and the sluggish economy, officials have scrambled to find revenue to stop spending reserves.

A measure to net roughly $5 million in taxes on petroleum companies failed in November. ..."