Contact: Key Budge
media@tehachapicityhall.com
On Monday, April 4th the Tehachapi City Council unanimously approved a resolution opposing Initiative 21-0042A1 which has collected enough signatures to appear on the Statewide November 2024 ballot.
Also known as the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” the Tehachapi City Council was quick to note that the catchy title is misleading, as this proposal to change the California State Constitution would cost local taxpayers local control, including invalidating the 57% approval for ‘Measure S’ the one-cent sales tax increase passed to fund emergency services and infrastructure in the City of Tehachapi in November of 2022. M
The “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” is sponsored by the California Business Roundtable, the lobbying arm of some of the state’s wealthiest corporations who are seeking to reduce their own payments and create constitutional loopholes that allow these corporations to pay less than their faire share for the impacts on local communities including infrastructure and shifting that burden to individual taxpayers. Additionally, these corporations are seeking to dodge enforcement when they violate environmental, health and public safety laws.
Targeted in as part of this proposal are the 106 tax initiatives approved by voters in municipalities and counties across the state in the November 2022 election that do not have a specific sunset date. Those include the City of Tehachapi’s Measure S and the County of Kern’s Measure K. In addition, this proposed initiative would prohibit local advisory tax measures brought forth by the public, in addition it would impact and eliminate a variety of cost-recovery and impact fees paid by developers for their impact to a community including water, wastewater, traffic impact along with code enforcement and nuisance violations.
Many fees would now require a new legal standard of “clear and convincing evidence” to be validated, costing taxpayers millions of dollars in legal challenges, studies and administrative costs.
It is estimated that if placed on the ballot and approved this initiative would cost the City of Tehachapi an estimated $6 million annually in lost revenues and additional costs. These costs would in turn be paid by current taxpayers and result in reduced services and staffing for law enforcement, public safety, streets and road maintenance and development services.
The City of Tehachapi is joining a coalition of California municipalities to oppose this measure via The League of California Cities. In addition, with Measure S funding now in jeopardy, the City of Tehachapi will not be budgeting much of the anticipated revenue from the one-cent sales tax increase until more clarity on the future of this initiative and its impact to the voter-approved measure is available.
Read the Full Staff Report Here
Watch the Tehachapi City Council Meeting when the Resolution was presented (26:16 mark)
Listen to ‘TehachaPod’ as the true cost of the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” is discussed in depth following the City Council Meeting
The list of corporations supporting the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” through the California Business Roundtable are as follows:
Aera Energy
Albertsons
Altria
Anthem Blue Cross
Automobile Club of Southern California
Bittle Enterprises (Enterprise Rent-a-Car)
Blackstone
Caruso Management (Rick Caruso)
Chevron
C.J. Segerstrom & Sons
Dart Container
DLA Piper
Douglas Emmett
Eli Lilly & Company
Exxon
Farmer’s Insurance Group
Fivepoint
Global Medical Response Solution
Grimmway Farms
Irvine Company
KB Homes
Kilroy Realty
LevatoLaw
Majestic Realty
Marathon Petroleum Corp.
McKinsey & Company
National CORE
PepsiCo
PhRMA
Sempra Energy
State Farm
Sutter Health
Union Pacific Railroad
United Airlines
UPS
Valero
Western National Group
Wells Fargo
Wellpoint (insurance)