On March 7, 2000, Californians will be voting on many ballot initiatives. One of them is Prop 26 "School Facilities. Local Majority Vote. Bonds, Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute."
A lot of people aren't aware of the struggle in California with property taxes. Sure you've heard of "Prop 13" that rolled-back property taxes and nearly crippled public education. But there are other restrictions here, components of the backlash against seeming "runaway" taxes. Where you live, I'm sure you don't feel UNDER-taxed. But here, with home prices already sky-high, an extra percent or two is a LOT of money.
To make it VERY difficult to raise taxes to fund schools, police, fire-departments, and other vital services, a law was passed to require a two-thirds "super-majority" before any bond measure could pass that would affect property. It worked so well that at our local elementary school we couldn't get money to repair the leaking roofs, fix the plumbing in the restrooms (several were so bad, they were sealed) or patch broken sidewalks and streets. It took two years, 3 initiatives and thousands of hours of volunteer labor (not to mention private donations) to finally pass the measure. We ALWAYS got a majority for these critical repairs. But a super-majority is VERY difficult to obtain. And some would say, "Exactly, that's how it should be."
I disagree. Each man and woman should have their votes count the same as everyone else. Why should some old geezer (who's kid's are grown and gone) be more powerful than a young mother who want's her children to be educated in a building with working rest-rooms and no leaks in the roof? Didn't the retiree and his/her children benefit from the same schools when they grew up? Conejo Elementary is many decades old. Why do some people think that they should be so special? They get education for their children and we ALL benefit, but as the years wear on, they don't see anymore benefits (in their limited ability to grasp the importance of educating OTHER children, not just their own) so they want to choke off the system. Our schools needed about another $30 per $100,000 of assessed value. That's an average of $75/home in this region per year.
The main argument against this initiative seems to be that property taxes "WILL" rise. That's ignorant. The proposition doesn't raise (or lower) anybody's taxes by a single penny! It says that everybody's vote will count the same when it comes to deciding to approve local bonds and taxes. If a majority rejects a new tax, then it won't pass. Plain and simple. That means that a relatively small percentage (34%) of the voters will not be able to railroad the majority.
I'm not saying I'll vote for every (or even ANY) property tax increases. I'll look at every one of the future proposals as they come up. But it makes me angry to have democracy sidestepped in this manner. In less politically correct times, it used to be said "One man, one vote." Now, I want to return to "One citizen, one vote."
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