John Takeuchi: The Tax Watchers
It’s the season again – election ballots will be hitting our mailboxes and we’ll wade through pages of legalese and puffery.
As we’ve come to expect, there will be tax and bond measures promising to do “essential” things – to be paid for with our taxes. It’s crucial that taxpayers understand what’s at stake. So let’s take a quick look at the law.
Nearly all of the basics are contained in Article XIII of the California Constitution, “Taxation.”
A major rule requires that tax and bond measures proposed by the state Legislature be passed by two-thirds votes in both houses. In the past, this has curtailed most far-out ideas.
Most of the measures that would benefit taxpayers were put on the ballot by citizen initiatives. Let’s look at the important ones.
First, property taxes had been rising since it was first imposed, and especially in the early 1970s when the “baby boomers” – the children of World War II veterans – hit the workforce and bought homes. Those taxes hit especially hard on retired veterans and seniors who lived on fixed incomes, threatening to force some out of their homes. In 1978, two political activists Paul Gann and Howard Jarvis managed to put the People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation – designated Proposition 13 — on the ballot. Its core principle was that property taxes would not exceed 1 percent of the assessed value of real estate. It made 1976 assessed values the starting base and allowed the tax to increase a maximum of 2 percent per year. Proposition 13 passed overwhelmingly.
The second major initiative was Proposition 218, put on the 1986 ballot by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. It required voter approval of local assessments, fees and other charges, with the exception of water, sewer and utility fees. It also reaffirmed the power of local voters to repeal or reduce by initiative any locally imposed tax, fee or assessment. This includes such items as local sales tax rates and Mello-Roos taxes.
Politicians know that attacking Proposition 13 directly would be political suicide; but they try regularly to nibble at the edges. That’s why it’s so important for voters to know the rules in the state Constitution. Read the ballot measures to understand what they’ll do – and what they’ll cost. This is one of the most important responsibilities – and rights – of citizens in a democracy.
Our Citizen Taxpayer Group – The Tax Watchers – tries to help by analyzing ballot measures dealing with taxes, bonds and government actions of questionable merit that are paid for with our tax dollars.
At this time, there are several programs based on the controversial Critical Race Theory; we’re looking at them.
There is nothing on the June primary ballot that strikes us as out of line. The proposed Solano County sales tax to support our rural fire districts, after significant objections arose, has gone back for more study and input. This is an extremely important matter; it needs a fair and effective solution.
The November general election ballot will almost certainly give us lots to do. Our school districts have spent the money from their last bond measures and will be looking to take advantage of significant increases in property values since then.
We’ll be watching.
John Takeuchi is a member and past president of the Central Solano Citizen/Taxpayer Group. The group meets at noon the second Friday of the month at the Benicia Grill II in Fairfield.