SB 1298 Is an Attack on Prop 218

Mike Lewis in his column published yesterday in Fox and Hounds makes numerous assertions that are simply not accurate. For starters, it is incorrect to say that SB 1298 is not an attack on Proposition 218. In fact, it would undermine one of the key provisions in Proposition 218, the right to vote on taxes […]

Controller Dead Wrong on Property Taxes

California’s State Controller, Betty Yee, normally displays a measured, albeit liberal, view of California fiscal affairs. While viewed as reasonably competent and not given to hyperbole, her recent statement in a local government blog was one she must have known to be flat wrong. The blog, called County Voice, is disseminated by the California State Association […]

Lessons from Chicago on the Value of Prop 13

In Chicago, escalating property taxes are headline news.  With the average property tax bill due to go up by 13 percent – and more increases in subsequent years virtually guaranteed – home ownership in the Windy City is in deep peril. No one seems happy except the moving companies. This drastic tax increase is the […]

Budget Deception: Weird Accounting Diminishes Accountability

This week, after reaching agreement with Governor Brown, the California Legislature will pass the state budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. In so doing, it will meet its Constitutional deadline of June 15th. A few weeks ago, this column attempted to provide some clarity to ordinary citizen taxpayers on basic state budget issues. This included […]

Response to Will Kempton on Transportation Taxes

  Last week’s column presented the case for strong opposition to any new transportation taxes in California. But on Thursday, the Executive Director of Transportation California, Will Kempton, published a response in Fox and Hounds, which repeated the need for higher taxes. Will Kempton is a respected transportation expert who agrees with the central premise of […]

Profligate Waste Negates Justification for Transportation Tax Hike

A personal digression: My father was head of the Iowa Department of Transportation (then called the Iowa Highway Commission) in the late ’60s and early ’70s before he was appointed by President Ford to serve as Deputy Federal Highway Administrator. (Of course, he lost that job when Jimmy Carter became president, but he continued to […]

Will Average Californians Get Help from Sacramento?

So much of what comes out of the Capitol hurts average Californians. Efforts to impose new taxes, onerous regulations or laws that dictate lifestyle choices like how much soda one drinks, have citizens ducking for cover. But every now and then, bills are introduced that cut against the stereotype by providing genuine benefit to average […]

Billions in New Bonds Should Not Escape Voter Approval

Former Speaker Willie Brown once said, “In the world of civic projects, the first budget is really just a down payment.” The strategy, he noted, was to start construction of a project quickly so it would be hard to stop once people learned of the real cost which, in many cases, could be many multiples […]

Put Price Tags on Ballot Measures

Would you commit to buy a car, a house or even a jacket without knowing the price? Unless you are a member of the one percent, chances are, you want to know what it will cost you before you make a purchase. But what about ballot measures that can cost every citizen hundreds or even […]

Attorney General Reins In Shady Bond Practices

It’s not often that taxpayers get good news, especially in tax-happy California. Even more surprising is when the good news is an official opinion from the state’s Attorney General, someone not normally associated with friendly treatment to taxpayers. Last November, this column noted that local governments, especially school districts, were prone to engage in questionable […]