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Contributors
Jon Coupal- Columnist
Jon Coupal
is an attorney and president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association -- California's largest taxpayer organization with
offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento. [go to website] [go
to Coupal index]
 Tax
Dollars Used Against Taxpayers
Paying
to be punished...
[Jon Coupal] 10/1/04
Throughout
California, taxpayer funds are being used routinely for political
purposes.
Since it is illegal for officials to
use public resources (including public funds) to advocate a vote
for or against a political issue, highly paid consultants frequently
counsel tax backers on the best way to circumvent the law by
waging "informational" campaigns.
Typical is Palm Springs
where the nearly 43,000 residents will be paying almost a dollar-and-a-half
each in support of a tax
increase. This is because the City Council has approved the expenditure
of $57,200 for an "informational" campaign in support
of Measure V, which would raise the city utility user tax by
60%.
The money will pay
to send three newsletters to voters. However, what the city
calls "information," most citizens would
call "threats." Residents are being told that if they
don't agree to pay higher taxes on electricity, natural gas and
telephone service, the city will be compelled to lay off 27 workers,
including 8 police officers and 6 firefighters.
You could bet the
farm that the designation of these layoffs is arbitrary. In
Palm Springs and other communities officials
know that if they threaten to reduce the frequency of tree trimming,
sidewalk cleaning or other non-emergency services, few voters
will be inspired to support a new tax. So they go with "grabber" issues,
like public safety, that are more likely to motivate voters.
It is a good bet that voters will be reading a lot about firefighter
and police response times in newsletters from the city, and how
if the new tax is not approved, in an emergency they can expect
a life-threatening wait for service.
Will this "informational" campaign
to support higher taxes include other alternatives to balance
the city budget?
Of course not. And it is guaranteed that the material voters
receive will make no mention of the 29 Palm Springs employees
who make more than $115,000 a year in salary and benefits, or
the fact that taxpayers are already paying so that employees
with 30 years on the job can retire at 90% of their salary.
So what are taxpayers
to do when their own money is used against them in these "informational" campaigns?
Under California law, local governments are strictly prohibited
from engaging in political advocacy using public resources. Local
governments may make public statements of an informational nature,
provided they are factual and impartial. Statements that are
not factual, or that are not impartial, are prohibited both by
our state and federal Constitutions.
The courts have said
in the landmark case of Stanson v. Mott, "use
of the public treasury to mount an election campaign which attempts
to influence the resolution of issues which our Constitution
leaves to the 'free election' of the people ... presents a serious
threat to the integrity of the electoral process."
If taxpayers observe suspect behavior by local officials, we
at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association recommend as a first
step putting the offending government agency on notice in writing.
Sample letters are available on our website.
Please send a copy of your letter to HJTA.CRO
copyright
2004 Howard Jarvis Taxpayers association
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