First it was the North County Fire Protection District. Then the San Miguel Fire Protection District got a lot of heat, but did it too. Now it’s the City of Chula Vista that wants to hit taxpayers with a double-whammy “crash tax” to cover the costs of responding to vehicular accidents.
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association was made wise to this item on Tuesday afternoon’s docket and quickly issued a statement denouncing the attempt. Others will no doubt add their voices to the opposition, but don’t be too surprised if the measure passes.
Elected officials in nine states can’t rely on this tool to hit up taxpayers for more money without a vote because it’s ILLEGAL. But sadly, it’s perfectly OK in California. So here we go again.
Sure, I understand that governments are hurting for funds. But I won’t give up another dime until I know for a fact every single thing possible has been done to try and avoid coming after me, from consolidation of services (like the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, and Lemon Grove have done with fire administration), outsourcing and managed competition, to pension reform including asking employees such as firefighters to contribute more to their own retirement.
Chula Vista taxpayers have already said “no” to giving the City Council more money to spend in the form of a sales tax, which they defeated two to one in 2009. But they don’t get a vote this time… at least, not on the measure. The only vote they’ll get to make is turning anyone who votes in favor of this money grab out of office later this year.