☆ Perspective: California “has a spending problem”—so expect frequent tax bumps if ACA 1 passes
Image by Wikimedia Commons
Carl DeMaio, Reform California's chairman and taxpayer advocate, parses the clamor surrounding ACA 1—which proposes CA requires a 55% majority (not the current 66.6%) to approve affordable housing and public infrastructure projects. Rather than making tax increases easier, says DeMaio, shouldn't pro-ACA 1 cities like SJ work to—you know—balance the books better? An Opp Now exclusive.
Opportunity Now: There's been a lot of commotion surrounding ACA 1, with supporters saying California needs a new voting threshold in order to get important projects done. Is this true?
Carl DeMaio: ACA 1 guts Prop 13 by changing the threshold for several tax increases from a 2/3 to a 55% vote—making it far easier for the tax-and-spend Liberal supermajority in Sacramento and at your City Hall to raise taxes on our hard-working families. California doesn't need ACA 1 or any new tax increases; the state doesn't have a revenue problem—it has a spending problem.
ON: So when places like San Jose endorse ACA 1, is it as simple as them wanting to expedite—and pass through additional—tax hikes?
CD: Liberal-controlled cities like San Jose want ACA 1 because they want to make it easier to raise your taxes. There’s no big surprise here that tax-and-spend politicians don’t like to win approval from voters for their tax hikes.
Liberal politicians love to play games with ballot measure titles—especially when they raise taxes. Our analysis shows most tax hike measures on the ballot do not have an honest ballot title where the tax hike is made clear to voters. This is manipulation of the voters to scam them into unknowingly approving tax hikes.
ON: If not through ACA 1, how can local cities ensure their communities' housing and infrastructure needs are being met?
CD: We already give government more than enough money because we have the highest tax rates in the nation across the board! They need to do what any family or small business has to do every day: tighten the belt and stop diverting our tax dollars from basic priorities to give subsidies to special interests with our taxpayer funds.
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