Local Taxes

The Fair Political Practices Commission, which is responsible for enforcing California’s campaign finance and disclosure laws, unanimously approved a $1.35 million penalty against Los Angeles County on August 20 after investigating claims that the county used public funds to campaign in favor of a sales tax increase. CalTax submitted a letter to the FPPC urging the agency to approve the penalty. The county paid a political consulting firm approximately $1 million for a “communications plan” that included radio, television and…

California voters rejected 142 of the 237 local tax and bond measures on the March 3 ballot, according to the counties’ final vote tallies. The complete results, including descriptions of the measures and their estimated cost to taxpayers, are posted on the CalTax website. The counties provided their official results much later this year, as the governor issued an executive order giving them three extra weeks to count ballots and certify results. While the preliminary tallies made it clear that…

While some local governments have withdrawn tax measures from upcoming elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many are moving forward with ballot measures asking voters to approve tax increases. The Palo Alto City Council voted March 19 to discontinue development of a local business headcount tax for the November election. The council was preparing to consider tax rates and review results from a business climate survey, but staff recommended that the council discontinue work on the tax in light of…

Voters in the March 3 presidential primary election rejected 122 of 237 local tax and bond measures – including CalTax-opposed Measure FD in Los Angeles County – according to preliminary election reports from county registrars. Click here for CalTax’s detailed description of the measures and the preliminary results. Of the 121 school bonds on the ballot in various parts of the state, 64 were rejected, 21 were approved and 36 are too close to call because they are within 3.5…

California voters will decide 231 local tax and bond measures on the March 3 presidential primary ballot, according to data compiled by CalTax. CalTax’s online table of the 2020 local tax elections includes details about each measure, and will be updated with results after the election. The number of measures marks a 165 percent increase over the last presidential primary. In June 2016, voters were presented with 87 local tax and bond measures, and approved 67. This year’s measures include 119 school…