Local business leaders "disappointed" in SJ Council's continued support for lower tax increase thresholds
A headline from CBS News
Prop 5 lost handily statewide and countywide, but the tax-happy SJ Council continues to lobby (unanimous vote on 1.14) to make it easier to raise taxes. Local business groups, including Silicon Valley Business Alliance, Santa Clara County Realtors Ass'n, and Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, among others, voiced their displeasure in an email to Mayor Mahan and Councilmembers, below.
2/12/25
Dear Honorable San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and City Councilmembers:
This letter is to express our disappointment--as business leaders in Silicon Valley--in the SJ City Council's unanimous vote on January 14, 2025 to continue advocating for the lowering of voter thresholds for new taxes.
The position runs contrary to the council's stated positions that it wants to lower the cost of living for SJ residents, and to make San Jose a business-friendly city. Lowering the threshold for new taxes will inevitably lead to higher taxes, making San Jose less affordable, and a harder place to create and grow a new business.
We look forward to the council deleting this priority from future versions of the city's Intergovernmental Relations Group's Report (where the recommendation resides).
Respectfully,
Johnny Khamis
Silicon Valley Business Association
Neil Collins
Santa Clara Association of Realtors
Brian Folden
National Association of Residential Property managers
Tracey Enfantino
Silicon Valley Business PAC
Jenny Zhao
Bay Area Homeowners Network
Matt Wendt
South County Business Alliance
Mark Hinkle
Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association
Pat Waite
Citizens For Fiscal Responsibility
{Editor's note: Previously, the Silicon Valley Business Alliance sent a letter to the council before the 1.14 vote, urging them to support CEQA reform and monitor the More Homes on the Market Act, in addition to withdrawing support for lowering the tax threshold vote, text below.}
Dear SJ City Council:
It has come to our attention that the Council will be reviewing the 2025 Intergovernmental Relations Group's (IGR) priorities on January 14, 2025. We ask you to consider the following recommended changes:
Please add CEQA reforms to the IGR priorities because they will reduce costs, wait times and frivolous lawsuits on housing developers and create opportunities to build more housing supply.
The following specific recommendations have been studied and written about by many experts:
1. Requiring all entities that file CEQA lawsuits to fully disclose their identities and their environmental interests. Currently, claims can be filed anonymously.
2. Disallowing procedural gamesmanship that pushes CEQA proceedings past a year and beyond.
3. Ordering the losing party to pay court costs on CEQA lawsuits.
4. Making infill land development in urban non-riparian areas exempt from challenges.
Council should delete the priority of:
"Decreased Voter Thresholds: Support efforts to reduce the approval threshold of taxes and bonds for transportation and infrastructure funding measures, including those for affordable housing, to less than a two-thirds majority vote. Support efforts to protect the approval of general-purpose funding measures by a simple majority."
Given the majority rejection of Proposition 5 in the last election at the county and state level--as well as substantial opposition to Prop 5 within SJ City (final tallies not yet public)--this priority clearly has no citizen mandate and does not reflect a broad consensus among local residents, as should be the basis for any citywide recommendation from Council.
Additionally, we request that you start monitoring the More Homes on the Market Act sponsored by Reps Panetta and Kelly that would double the capital gains tax exemption on the sale of a primary residence and index future gains for inflation. We believe this Federal tax reform can create more inventory of larger family homes and help increase local property tax revenues by moving these homes with 1960s tax bases into current tax rates.
Read the whole first letter here.
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