Stop the “Cat Tax”

Shameless Revenue Grab, Intrusive Bureaucracy

Today I urged the Mayor and Council colleagues to “send to the litter box” a proposal unveiled at the City’s Audit Committee which would require every San Diegan who owns a cat to register their cat and pay a fee – roughly $25.  The goal of the proposal is to generate a half-a-million dollars for the cash-strapped General Fund.

Below is the chart from page 35 of the city report showing the clear revenue-generating purpose behind the proposed licensing fee:

The Cat Tax amounts to yet another cost to San Diegans and imposes yet another regulation – all of which of course will all have to be administered by an expanded government bureaucracy.  A city government that cannot deliver on the basic services should not be expanding its bureaucracy and regulations into these areas.

The proposal, which is contained in a report titled “Performance Audit of Animal Services Agreement” urges that pet owners should be required to “register their feline companions.”

This Cat Tax is driven not by a legitimate need, but instead is a flawed attempt to generate revenue for the city in the middle of a budget crisis.

We have more pressing issues to tackle than creating a Cat Tax, I urge the Mayor and City Council to send this flawed idea back to where it belongs: the litter box.