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Property taxes could pay for $25 billion Delta tunnels without public vote
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_26198909/property-taxes-could-pay-25-billion-delta-tunnelsMajor water districts in California are quietly considering using property taxes — and possibly raising them without a vote of the public — to help fund Gov. Jerry Brown's $25 billion plan to build two massive tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Most property tax hikes require a two-thirds vote, as required under California's landmark Proposition 13, which voters passed in 1978. But the water agencies contend they are not bound by that requirement.
They say they were given the authority to raise property taxes to pay for the State Water Project, a vast system of dams and canals, in both a 1959 law and a year later in a statewide ballot measure. And those predate Proposition 13....
"Because this is a tax that was already voted on, it was a pre-Prop. 13 measure," said Jim Fiedler, the district's chief operating officer. "Because it was adopted by voters prior to that date, it doesn't qualify for the two-thirds requirement."
Most property tax hikes require a two-thirds vote, as required under California's landmark Proposition 13, which voters passed in 1978. But the water agencies contend they are not bound by that requirement.
They say they were given the authority to raise property taxes to pay for the State Water Project, a vast system of dams and canals, in both a 1959 law and a year later in a statewide ballot measure. And those predate Proposition 13....
"Because this is a tax that was already voted on, it was a pre-Prop. 13 measure," said Jim Fiedler, the district's chief operating officer. "Because it was adopted by voters prior to that date, it doesn't qualify for the two-thirds requirement."
Could this principle be applied to something that's actually useful?