Measure W is Wrong for Davis
Here are many major reasons to Vote No on Measure W:
EXCESSIVE USE OF SPECIAL TAXATION BALLOT MEASURE PROCESS AND THE ESCALATION OF SPECIAL TAX RATES:
The School Board of the Davis School District in addition to the governing bodies of many other local government entities have placed special tax measures on the ballot for voter approval in recent years which have passed and are now in effect and have exacerbated the problem of over taxation facing taxpayers i.e .City of Davis: Measure P: Sales Tax Increase in 2004 and Measure O: Open Space Preservation Tax in 2000, Davis School District Measure Q: Special Tax Assessment in 2007, Davis Library District Measure P: Special Tax in 2007 and Measure K: Building Modernization Bond in 2000 and Los Rios Community College District: Measure A: General Facilities Bond in 2002. The voter approval of all these special tax ballot measures has been an accumulation of an additional amount of property tax of $387. per parcel per year from all these voter approved tax assessments alone causing the total rate of such taxes to escalate exponentially to higher overall rates on local tax bills.
Also, many local property tax rates have risen over time as extension ballot measures are approved by voters: For example, Measure Q passed by voters last year imposed a rate of $200. per parcel which is four times larger than its original predecessor Measure K which was passed by voters on Tuesday, June 5, 1984 which provided for an assessment of only $49. per year per parcel.
UNFAIR TAX STRUCTURE:
Measure W’s provisions provide that all parcels with multiple residential units excepted are subject to the same tax rate per year whether they are residential, commercial or industrial property or better described as non-income producing vs. income producing property i.e. commercial and industrial.
Measure W does not tax parcels according to their value so lower income property owners with lower assessed real property values would be assessed the same rate as those higher income owners that own property with higher values. Statewide Ballot Proposition 13 which was passed by the voters on Tuesday, June 6, 1978 which created Article 13A to the state constitution that imposed a limitation on ad valorem property taxes to only 1% of the cash value of the subject property. Therefore, the structure of this proposed tax not being an ad valorem (according to assessed value) type tax is a ploy to use a legal loop hole avoid a conflict with the provisions of Proposition 13's 1% ad volrem property tax limit by the School Board to avoid the tax limit protections that are intended to provide local property taxpayers relief provided by the enactment of Proposition 13 legally.
Measure W provides no exemption for low income property owners. The 65 years or older exemption provided by the measure is an age based exemption only and does not offer an exemption based on the income of property owners. The lack of such a low income exemption has the potential to affect the affordability of many residents to afford to reside in the City of Davis, especially in regards to many lower level, lower paid public employee's i.e. University of California, City of Davis and Davis Joint Unified School District Employees including Students.
Measure W's provisions provide for no vacancy exemption for unoccupied residential units in multi unit (apartment) complexes. So, if there is a rise in the future in the vacancy rate among multi-unit residential dwellings locally, landlords could lose additional paid rent in the form of if being diverted as payment for assessed taxation being applied to rental units that are absent receiving an income from non paid rent.
Measure W's provisions set a flexible tax rate per year up to a maximum of $120. per single unit parcel and $50. per year for multiple unit residential parcels subject to an annual review with public hearings to be held by the School Board which is not legally required to set the rate at the preferred limit advised through public testimony nor due to economic indicators such as the rate of inflation or the misery index. This situation places taxpayers in the unfair situation in which the rate of annual property tax assessed on their property could fluctuate from year to year and precluding them from fairly and accurately contemplating in advance what their total tax rate assessed would be annually for them to pay for the three (3) year term of the tax in uncertain economic times due to the effects of a probable oncoming economic recession..
That Measure Q was passed by voters last year still remains in effect assessing an additional $200. per year per parcel if Measure W passes for the remaining three (3) year term in effect as both tax assessments would serve nearly duplicate purposes in funding instructional programs and therefore a significant amount of additional funding could still be provided if Measure W doesn't pass.
UNDERMINES DAVIS SLOW GROWTH DEVELOPMENT POLICIES:
In recent years Davis voters have made decisions regarding two development related ballot measures by the passage of Measure J in 2000: The public vote requirement on each general plan amendment requirement for new development projects and the defeat of Measure X The Covell Village Development Proposal in 2005. In general property tax assessments are a land development inducting form of taxation in that such collection of additional tax revenue from such tax schemes are depended on the development of new parcels. Therefore local development authorities such as the Davis City Council and Yolo County Board of Supervisors have an incentive to approve such new developments to create a new addition to the local property tax base even for the benefit other government entities as well. In general, the ballot measure property tax proposal scheme used to expand the local tax base has been at odds to the predominant voter sentiment supportive of the policy of slo w grow th in Davis..
DECLINING ENROLLMENT FIGURES IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DON'T JUSTIFY ADDITIONAL SPENDING AND TAXATION:
Measure W is a continuous effort by the School Board to seek voter approval to place a third local tax into effect in addition to Measure K: The School Facilities Bond passed in a Special Election in 2000 and Measure Q which passed last year and now with Measure W as a nearly identical written proposal to Measure Q to provide additional funding for Instructional programs which if passed in addition to the two other existing measures will increase the amount of special taxes paid to the school district from $258. to $378. per single unit dwelling and increase of 32%. despite the fact that there has been a projected slight decrease in enrollment in the district from 8,863 to 8,833 students between the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years with less enrollment in addition to two (2) additional tax measures passed by the voters in previous years for other government organizations for their other purposes are still in effect doesn’t justify supporting this proposed new tax.
POTENTIAL RAISE IN THE COST OF LIVING NEGATIVELY AFFECTING THE AFFORDABILITY OF MIDDLE CLASS RESIDENTS OF DAVIS TO RESIDE IN DAVIS:
In Davis the cost of living is already excessively high due to such new taxes and increases in recent years such as Measure W imposed on many middle income property owners not exempted from low income exemption provisions thereby subjecting them to possible future hardship as well such as possibly being evicted from their or excluded from purchasing residences due to the unaffordability to pay these current and new taxes.
In the interests to preserve the affordable cost of living for all Davis residents against this excessive and continuous "tax raising frenzy" being sought by our local elected officials to gouge the local residents with excessive taxation:
Vote No on Measure Wrong.
Vote No on Measure W.
For more information regarding the campaign against Measure W. Please contact the following person:
Coleman Thomas "Tom" Randall, Jr
Head Spokesperson of the "No on Measure W" campaign
by e-mail at colemanrandall@comcast.net
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