Taxpayer Protection
No sooner had the voters rejected new park taxes than Maureen O’Connor was on the stump for a new proposition. This time she wants a special taxing agency so that the scheme will only take a bare majority vote.
Because only 37% of the voters went to the polls last time, a majority would have been just 19% of the registered voters. This number in favor would pass the tax. In fact, two weeks ago only 16.8% of the eligible voters actually voted for Proposition A, but it passed.
A key protection of Proposition 13 was that most new taxes would require a two-thirds vote. Do we really want 19% of the electorate passing a new tax? These elections are too much influenced by special-interest groups, which vote heavily on issues that benefit them personally. Let’s hope that this insight sinks in with the leaders at City Hall. Let’s keep the few taxpayer protections we have.
JACK R. SANDERS
President, United Taxpayers of San Diego
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