OPPOSE the Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018

Support Citipac

The Tax Fairness, Transparency, and Accountability Act of 2018 would eliminate the current authority of cities and counties to enact a tax for general purposes with approval from a majority of voters, making it harder for communities to maintain adequate levels of services.
Would now require a 2/3rd vote of City Councils or Board of Supervisors to enact many fees. This will make it harder for communities hold businesses and individuals responsible for creating fires hazards, destruction of public property, and use of emergency services.
Would significantly narrow the legal threshold from “reasonable” to “actual”costs for local governments to apply fees to services, permits, licenses, etc. This will make it more difficult for local governments to ensure that the businesses pay to use services like building inspections by the fire marshal and providing emergency services for industrial sites.
It would void local tax measures passed in 2018 unless they are approved by 2/3 rds of voters, even though voters will likely not be aware of that fact. This could make it harder for communities to plan for the future to prevent cuts to public safety and other vital services

The Tax Fairness, Transparency, and Accountability Act of 2018 would severely limit the ability of cities and counties to generate new revenue.
Important municipal services like public safety and transportation, services that all businesses and their employees rely on, would be squeezed.
The initiative would lead to increased government gridlock, budget instability, and more costly referenda. This results in uncertainty for taxpayers and businesses and their expectation of reliable government services.
This is initiative opens the door to increased lawsuit abuse against state and local governments putting further strain on taxpayers and local services.
The initiative could lead to increased development fees, putting a huge strain on the construction of new housing – further worsening California’s housing crisis. This means that employees would potentially have to look elsewhere to escape crippling housing costs.

Additionally, this initiative could limit the ability to ensure new housing developments are provided important infrastructure like new roads and parks.
Would significantly narrow the ability to ensure that businesses and individuals who damage public property are held financially accountable.
It would void local tax measures passed in 2018 unless they are approved by 2/3 rds of voters, even though voters will likely not be aware of that fact. This could make it harder for communities to plan for the future to prevent cuts to public safety and other vital services.
Would require all local tax measures to appear only on a regularly scheduled general election ballot unless an emergency is declared with a unanimous vote of the authorizing governing body. This will limit a community’s flexibility to fund solutions to urgent problems.