Press Release
SAN DIEGO (Jan. 22, 2014) — The JOBS Coalition turned in 53,107 signatures from San Diego voters today, collecting them over a 26-day period and completing the signature-gathering phase that began December 27th to stop the jobs tax.
“We have successfully gathered more than 53,000 signatures from San Diego voters in an effort to repeal the massive jobs tax the council approved late last year,” Jerry Sanders, President & CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said at news conference surrounded by members of the JOBS Coalition at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
The Coalition was required to submit 33,866 valid signatures by today.
“We believe we have more than enough signatures to qualify this measure, which will force the San Diego City Council to either rescind its vote to increase taxes on job creators by approximately 375 to 750 percent, or put this on the ballot to let voters decide,” Sanders said.
“This massive outpouring of support from San Diegans shows that, despite the council’s efforts to impede the referendum by forcing us to start over the holidays, the voters agree with our message: this tax has an extremely negative impact on jobs and our local economy and should be repealed,” he continued.
Small business owner Stephen Lew said: “This tax increase is forcing my family to reconsider expanding our business and creating jobs in the City of San Diego. Requiring jobs creators to send millions of dollars to a government bureaucracy with the hope of creating a small number of subsidized housing units is counterproductive to growing San Diego’s economy. My family is pleased that so many voters agree and helped us reach today’s milestone.”
Felipe Monroig, President & CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said: “Being able to gather so many signatures in 26 days, and over the holidays, stands as a clear message that taxpayers do not support jobs-killing initiatives. I am confident San Diego voters will decide to defeat this tax at the ballot box. I speak for all the Coalition members when I say we look forward to the official verification of these signatures so we can have a robust campaign. I’m confident that the results of that campaign will show voters want job growth initiatives, not job killing initiatives, from our elected officials.”
San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman said: “Together we can find a real and sustainable solution for subsidized housing, but this jobs tax is not that solution. Imposing a massive tax increase on the people who create the jobs and economic revenue is the wrong approach.”
The JOBS Coalition announced in December it would work to overturn a decision approved by a narrow 5-4 majority of the San Diego City Council to significantly increase the jobs tax. Supporters of the jobs tax call it a “linkage fee” because of the so-called link between some jobs and subsidized housing paid for by the tax. The Coalition calls it a jobs tax because businesses of all kinds — both large and small, as well as nonprofits, hospitals and private educational institutions — now face an additional 375 to 750 percent tax on all new business development, expansion and some remodeling.
No other city in San Diego County charges a similar tax, which is why several neighboring cities began courting Qualcomm and other San Diego businesses when the massive jobs tax increase took effect. If the tax increase is not overturned, it will increase automatically every year without any approval by elected officials or voters.
Once the signatures are verified, the City Council will vote to either rescind its decision to impose this massive tax increase on job creators, or put the issue on the ballot so voters can decide.
The JOBS Coalition is a group representing more than 50 regional organizations and San Diego small businesses that provide thousands of middle class jobs and billions of dollars to the economy, and opposes the Linkage Fee increase. Created in 2011 to oppose a similar increase and support robust funding alternatives that would actually provide a stable source of revenue for affordable housing, the Coalition announced a signature gathering campaign in December to overturn the City Council’s decision to raise the jobs tax by approximately 375 to 750 percent. The Coalition had until January 23 to collect 34,000 valid signatures. The City Council would then have to rescind its decision or put the issue before voters, most likely in June 2014.