LA Mayor and Labor Leaders Oppose `Taxpayer Protection' Measure

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Mayor Karen Bass Thursday urged residents not to be misled and to vote "no" on a state ballot measure in November that aims to change state and local government rules for imposing taxes, fees and other charges.

The state ballot measure known as the "Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act" has qualified for the November 2024 ballot, state official announced earlier this year. It was proposed by the California Business Roundtable, the California Business Properties Association and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Opponents of the measure say it would threaten some $2 billion in existing fees and charges, and $2 billion in voter-approved measures.

One of those opponents is Bass, who on Thursday morning joined City Council President Paul Krekorian and labor groups in a news conference to warn L.A. voters about negative consequences if the measure is approved.

"The measure is trying to trick you into believing that government does not need any money to function," Bass said. "Schools don't need any money, hospitals don't need any money. And so, if this measure were to pass, it would cripple our ability to provide the services that our cities need, that our schools need and dozens, if not hundreds, of cities."

According to the ballot text, the measure would expand the definition of "taxes" to include certain regulatory fees, broadening application of tax approval requirements; limit voters' ability to pass voter-proposed local special taxes by raising vote requirements to two-thirds from what is currently a 50% majority; eliminate voters' ability to advise how to spend revenues from proposed general tax on the same ballot as the proposed tax, among other things.

"The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act will empower California voters with the right to vote on all future taxes, which will let them take direct control over the cost-of-living crisis affecting working families throughout the state," California Business Roundtable President Rob Lapsley previously said. "Our measure gives voters the accountability they deserve for their state and local taxes, ensuring politicians are transparent in how new and future tax dollars will be spent."

In response to the news conference, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal said the state ballot measure is the "latest battle over whether it WILL or WILL NOT be easier to raise taxes."

"The mayor and City Council would like it to be easier to raise taxes because they have overspent the city into a huge budget deficit. But L.A. taxpayers already pay too much," Coupal said in a statement. "This ballot measure restores and reinforces important taxpayer protections that Proposition 13 added to the state constitution."

Zerita Jones, a member of the United to House LA Coalition and ULA Citizens Oversight Committee, talked about how the proposed measure would derail progress made by Measure ULA, a 2022 voter-approved tax imposed on the sale of properties over $5 million. The tax has raised more than $250 million in the first year, Jones said, specifically for programs and services to aimed at preventing and addressing homelessness.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles sued the city of L.A. in an effort to nix Measure ULA, however, the courts ruled it was legal.

Opponents of the "Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act," say it was introduced as an effort to have voters undo Measure ULA and other measures like it.

Under the taxpayer protection measure, local taxes for general purposes would continue to need approval by a simple majority of voters.

The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act would simply restore and reinforce the language of the state constitution, which requires the approval of two-thirds of voters for a local special tax, according to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

It has a "look-back" provision which states that local tax increases proposed by initiative and passed with only a simple majority since Jan. 1, 2022, must go back on the ballot for voter approval within 12 months, and they must get the required two-thirds vote to stay in effect.

There are about nine of these initiative tax increases, statewide, that would be affected.