David R. Doerr,
principal contributor Vol. XV, No. 10
Ronald W. Roach, editor
March 15, 2002
Eight days after polls for the March 5 election closed, Measure II in La Habra (Orange County), which would maintain the city’s utility user tax, was pulling ever-so-slightly ahead, but was still too close to call.
The measure was leading 4,336 to 4,234 – which is 50.6 percent approval, elections officials announced on March 13. The 102-vote lead compared to a five-vote advantage before the counting began on absentee and provisional ballots. A final count isn’t expected until next week, and election results have until April 2 to be certified.
It was not known how many of the thousands of absentee ballots in the county were from La Habra.
Mayor Steve Simonian told the Orange County Register: “It represents more breathing room for us, but that’s all until we see the final.” If Measure II passes, the 6 percent (4.5 percent on electricity bills) UUT will continue for five years, and taxpayers would be barred from seeking refunds of money already collected. The tax raises $4 million a year.
Lynton Hurdle, an opponent of the tax, told the Register: “We’re going to wait for the final count, but if the numbers are still this close, we will seriously consider calling for a recount.”
Meanwhile, other utility user tax measures – deemed illegal by court rulings and state ballot propositions because they were imposed without voter approval -- continue to percolate for upcoming elections. Here are some developments:
Another Stockton UUT Vote in November. Former Stockton City Council Member Ralph Lee White’s initiative to cut Stockton’s UUT by 75 percent has qualified for the November ballot, according to the Stockton Record. City voters on March 5 narrowly rejected an initiative to cut the tax by 25 percent (from 8 percent to 6 percent).
Mr. White contends Measure I (the 25 percent cut) lost because proponents were outspent nearly 20 to 1. (The “No” campaign spent about $118,000 while proponents spent a little over $10,000.) Mr. White pledged to spend whatever his opponents do on the campaign. “For every sign you see, we are going to have a sign next to it,” he said. Mr. White cited a number of examples of city wasteful spending that can be eliminated if the initiative is passed and city revenue is reduced. Opponents said the $24 million revenue loss would have a destructive effect on the city’s ability to deliver critical public services.
Sacramento County. Sacramento County Executive Terry Schutten has asked the Board of Supervisors to place the county’s 2.5 percent utility user tax and a 2 percent portion of the 12 percent hotel occupancy tax before voters in November. The ballot measure would ask voters to ratify taxes that were imposed without their approval. The action results from a settlement of a four-year legal battle with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Sacramento County Taxpayers League, which had threatened to mount an initiative campaign. The HJTA said it will not take sides in the election, since putting the matters before voters satisfies its legal quest. Meanwhile, the Sacramento County Taxpayers League is pursuing an initiative that would reduce the city of Sacramento’s UUT from 7.5 percent to 2.5 percent.
Tulare Considering Utility Tax Increase. Tulare city officials are considering a 1 percent utility user tax increase to pay for expanded library services and road repairs, according to the Tulare Advance-Register. At a City Council forum on March 12, a majority of the 100-plus residents who turned out favored the tax increase.
Council Member Brenda Hastings, who has been cool to tax increases, said the $500,000 that would be generated would not solve the problem. Vice-Mayor David Macedo said funds raised must not replace general fund money spent for these purposes.
Ned Kehrli, former high school superintendent using a double-negative, said, “The city cannot afford not to afford” a new library. But resident Marilyn Brazil questioned raising taxes when the county has an 18 percent unemployment rate. She said that “To raise the tax when people can’t find jobs and feed their children (was) … unconscionable.”
Santa Cruz UUT Post-Mortum. Tax pundits are still talking about the repeal of Santa Cruz County’s 7 percent utility user tax on March 5. With some absentee votes still to be counted, Measure L received over 55 percent “yes” votes.
The principal architect of the measure Bob Suhr of Castro Valley, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel (March 10) that he did not expect the measure to pass. Santa Cruz County is one of the most liberal in the state, and gave Al Gore 61.5-27.4 margin over George W. Bush in the last presidential election. Opponents outspent the proponents 20-1. Labor unions representing public employees kicked in $36,000 and non-profit organizations that receive funding from the county donated another $36,000. Assembly Member Fred Keeley added $4,700. The major county newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, urged voters to reject the proposal.
Mr. Suhr launched the effort to repeal the tax after utility tax collections were rising during the year as a fallout of the energy crisis. Earlier he made an exhaustive study of the county budget, which left him unimpressed. He had suggested a local citizens committee be formed by the supervisors to review county finances, but county supervisors were not interested. He said he wanted to give county citizens a voice in how the county was being run. The people employ the county but the county was acting as if it were the other way around, he said. Martha Montelongo, a member of the Latino Chamber of Commerce, was ecstatic with the result, saying, “It says so much about the people of this county that they saw where the money was going, to pay increases, and they didn’t buy the Chicken Little screaming that the sky was falling act.”
In Salinas, proponents of an initiative on the November ballot to phase out the city’s utility user tax by 2005 said the vote was encouraging. However, assistant Salinas City Manager Jorge Rifa said, “I cannot draw any parallels whatsoever.”
The tax will be removed from utility bills as soon as election results are certified, probably in early April.
County supervisors now face the task of adjusting county spending to county revenues without the utility user tax. While there will be some impact on this fiscal year, the 2002-03 budget will feel the full effect. County Administrator Susan Mauriello said the plan will be to recommend “equitable” cuts across the board. Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt said she doesn’t think the “equitable” plan will fly, because different programs and services have different value. “The sad thing is that this will pit people and programs against each other who should be natural allies.” Sheriff Mark Tracy said having sheriff deputies available to respond to emergencies should be a top priority. Ms. Mauriello on March 13 ordered her department heads to fill 300 employee vacancies only under special circumstances approved by her office.
In a March 7 editorial, The Sentinel said now is the time for local officials to earn their salaries by finding a way to continue as many services as possible.
Updates on other close-to-call or late-arriving returns from the March 5 election:
Los Angeles Public Safety Bond. Measure Q, Los Angeles’ $600 million bond for public safety through construction of police stations and fire houses, remained too close to call more than a week after polls closed. It was barely passing as absentee ballots continued to be counted, the Daily News reported March 13. The measure had gained slightly, to 66.79 percent approval (66.67 percent is needed for passage), election officials reported.
The measure would add $34.49 a year to property tax bills on the average home assessed at $189,000, the Daily News reported, noting that Measure Q was controversial because of questions ranging from compliance with state law, cost, the mayor’s recommendation against a second five-year term for the police chief, and the past failure of a similar proposal. It is part of a 20-year plan to raise $1.3 billion for public safety, with another bond measure going before voters in about 10 years.
The timing of the measure is another issue with voters, since the San Fernando Valley and Harbor Area secession issues are likely to be before voters later this year, the newspaper noted.
Harms Wins Stanislaus County Assessor Race. With most of the absentee and provisional votes counted in Stanislaus County, Doug Harms now has a clear lead over Modesto City Council Member Mike Serpa. With about 300 ballots left to count, Mr. Harms has 32,980 votes to Mr. Serpa’s 31,644. Mr. Harms was endorsed by retiring Assessor Mike DiFerrari.
San Diego Tax Debate. People on either side of the debate over Propositions E and F on the March 5 San Diego ballot say the decision will be made in the courts, not the ballot box. Proposition E was approved by 54.4 percent of the vote to require a two-thirds vote of the electorate to raise any tax in the city. Proposition F, a countermeasure pushed by the mayor, barely passed with 50.3 percent support. It says any proposition to require a super majority of voter support must also pass by that same super majority.
Backers of Measure E said they will definitely sue if the city does not abide by their initiative. Mayor Dick Murphy, a former judge, told the San Diego Union-Tribune March 11: “While I believe Proposition F is constitutional, as a former Superior Court judge, I will trust the courts to ultimately make that decision.”
Mike McDowell, leader of the Yes on E campaign: “The city could have saved the people of San Diego a lot of money if they just realized they’ve had a faulty measure on the ballot from the beginning.”
City Attorney Casey Gwinn: “This is a legitimate undecided issue in state law that a court will probably need to clarify. Our position is it is defensible.”
Late-Arriving Returns. In Modoc County, the Surprise Valley Hospital District assessment was approved by 87.4 percent of the vote, extending the $150 annual assessment for another four years, reported the Modoc County Register.