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REGION: Election Day could be tough for fiscal issues
Voters face decisions on more than a dozen tax and bond proposals
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
Economic worries may doom a host of state and local tax and bond proposals on the Nov. 4 ballot, say political scientists, taxpayer advocates and a few voters asked about their plans.
"The state of the economy is going to make it a lot more difficult for those to pass," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in Pomona. "People are going to be reluctant to keeping digging deeper into their pockets."
Richard Rider, chairman of San Diego County Tax Fighters, a small but vocal group that generally opposes tax hikes, said the high number of spending proposals may overwhelm voters worried about their pocketbooks.
"There are so many on the ballot that I think voters will just say 'hell no' to everything," he said. "These aren't good ideas in good times. They're insane in bad times."
Kathy Fox, a property manager in Escondido, said she is leaning toward a 'no' vote on all the fiscal proposals.
"We need to cut corners and instead we're being asked to spend money on a lot of things I don't think we need," she said.
There are seven state measures that call for billions in new bonds and billions in spending increases:
-- $9.95 billion in bonds for high-speed rail;
-- $5 billion in bonds for a renewable energy program;
-- $980 million in bonds for children's hospitals;
-- $900 million in bonds for a home loan program for military veterans;
-- a potential state spending increase of $1 billion a year for offender treatment programs;
-- and $465 million for criminal justice programs and one-time state prison costs of at least $500 million.
Local issues
As county voters work their way down the ballot, they will find Proposition A, a measure that asks them to OK a parcel tax to raise money for firefighting equipment and resources.
The tax would be $52 in the first year with increases in subsequent years tied to the annual cost of living index.
Rider argued that county supervisors, who put the measure on the ballot, have sufficient money to fund firefighting needs without a tax increase.
He pointed to a 1999 proposed sales tax for new libraries that was defeated despite arguments from county officials there was no other source of money for those projects.
"Nine months later, the supervisors had a plan to build five new libraries and renovate 14 more from existing funds," he said. "I think we'll see the same thing after Prop. A is defeated."
Brandee Due, a leasing agent, said she believes property owners pay enough as it is.
"We're spending too much money now on things we don't really need," she said.
In addition to Prop. A, residents of 12 cities, including Escondido, will be asked to approve school construction bonds or tax measures.
The Escondido Union High School District is asking voters to borrow $98 million for school improvements. Similar proposals await voters in San Diego, Grossmont, Lakeside, Lemon Grove and the South Bay.
Mike Byron, a political science instructor at Palomar and MiraCosta colleges, said the school district measures have a reasonable chance of success.
"The closer a proposal is to the lives of the voter, the better chance of success," he said. "That's particularly true with school bonds for people who have children attending the schools."
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association supports Prop. A and all the school bonds but is recommending 'no' votes on the high-speed rail and renewable energy bonds. Despite its support of certain measures, the association said all the fiscal issues could be in trouble.
"It's going to be tough," association Chairman John O'Neill said. "People are concerned about taxes and there are especially big numbers on the state propositions. Voters are going to be wary and averse to anything that might affect their pocketbook."
Mike O'Brien, a customer services manager, said he isn't going to oppose spending proposals simply because of the economy.
"I will decide each one on their merit," he said, adding he has yet to reach a conclusion on any of the measures.
Veterans bond
Seeking to maintain a string of 26 consecutive bond approvals stretching back to 1921 are backers of a $900 million bond issue to help military veterans buy homes.
Advocates say the measure poses little risk to taxpayers because the bonds are sold on the open market and repaid by home purchasers.
But in a year of widespread mortgage failures and general economic pessimism, backers are concerned.
"I'm worried, but not terrified," said Thomas A. Richards, a retired Marine colonel and chairman of the San Diego United Veterans Council. "If voters are exposed to the truth, it should pass. But there is a danger of it not passing this year."
UC San Diego political science professor Gary Jacobson concurred with an overall bleak forecast for fiscal issues.
"Voters are going to be reluctant to committing more money and floating more bonds and accumulating more debt," he said. "This is a moment where the electorate will more than likely hunker down and say, 'No more.' "
Joe Little, a maintenance supervisor in Escondido, was in the "no more" camp.
"We're taxed enough now," he said. "We should be spending the money already available to do more to help people with all the things they can't afford such as medical care and education."
Other area fiscal measures include:
-- A proposal to increase the hotel room tax in Del Mar from 10.5 percent to 13 percent.
-- A 2 percent tax on short-term vacation rentals in Encinitas to pay for beach sand replenishment and bluff stabilization.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
High turnout may cause delays
San Diego County Registrar Deborah Seiler is worried the lengthy ballot and an expected high voter turnout could make Election Day a slow-go at the polls.
"We are really urging people to study their sample ballot before they get to the polls so they know how they are going to vote," she said. "It takes a lot less time if they know what they're going to do."
Seiler isn't alone. Election officials up and down the Golden State have said the Nov. 4 ballot, with 12 state propositions and numerous national, state and local races, may cause substantial delays.
In San Diego County, about 1.2 million of the county's more than 1.4 million people are expected to vote, a predicted turnout of 75 percent to 80 percent.
On Monday, the last day to register to vote, Seiler's office signed up about 5,000 new voters.
"We had waves and waves of people coming in, including about 1,100 who came in to vote early," she said. "I've been in elections for about 30 years and you would think I would be jaded. But as I looked out my window and saw all the people coming in to register or vote, it was really exciting."
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tlbryman wrote on Oct 25, 2008 5:26 PM:I've tried to post several times to make statement that many "vote no on 8" signs are being taken down as well. I'll bet many more than the "yes" signs. It's true so why does the editor not place my statement? Hmmmm.
Prop T is just plain stupid wrote on Oct 25, 2008 6:04 PM:If you are thinking of voting Yes on Proposition T, answer this....
Where will the money for maintaining the campuses come from? Where will the teachers come from? Staff? Supplies?
Hear that great sucking sound? That's the life getting sucked out of the other three campuses.
The school district will have to maintain FOUR campuses on the budget that is too restrictive for THREE campuses.
An elite school, staffed by the best teachers, siphoning resources from the other 3 schools will harm the education of the other 90-plus percent of students.
No on T wrote on Oct 25, 2008 10:34 PM:My husband and I are voting NO on T.
Until the city and the school districts can be more responsible with their new development...they will continue to receive a BIG FAT F for efforts!!
Our schools have been over-crowded for years!! And the city with the HS districts "blessing" have continued to allow more students in generated by NEW development! A disservice to current students.
No elite school! No more $$.
Vote No on Prop T
Not just the economy wrote on Oct 25, 2008 11:38 PM:Their are many reasons other than the economy to vote no on proposition T:
1) This bond does virtually nothing to attack the core problem in the Escondido District, which is the lack of vocational programs and the mis-allocation of existing funds;
2) The bond is way too expensive considering the upgrades the District wants to make. Most of the maintenance and upgrades could have been accomplished in other ways;
3) The District and its supporters and been devious, if not downright dishonest, about the actual cost of this bond. Clearly, interest will be accruing for the next 18 years as we wait to start paying for this bond. Their assertion that "tax rates won't rise" is strictly dependent that home values and numbers of homes continue to rise. As we see, that may or may not happen.
4) The bond handcuffs the community and future boards for the next 48 years, ignoring the needs we will have when the current bond comes due 18 years from now; and,
5) The bond shows no evidence that it will really change anything in the schools, other than making them look nicer.
We need to move on from this poorly conceived bond and put something together that will really affect the way kids learn.
Support Escondido Schools.
VOTE NO ON T
Moe wrote on Oct 26, 2008 5:29 AM:Who do these dopes think they are? Asking us to incur more debt when we're struggling financially? Just shows that these lawmakers are disconnected from the rest of us. Bonds are just means of incurring debt! NO ON ALL BOND MEASURES!!! Legislators can sell their own bodies to pay for their outlandish SCHEMES.
Is it 12009 yet wrote on Oct 26, 2008 6:36 AM:To: tlbryman:
I think you posted to the wrong story. This story is about bonds. By the way, I am voting NO on all tax increases. Here’s an idea. Cut property taxes and raise the sales tax so that ALL people living in the county are more responsible for paying their own way.
Old Timer wrote on Oct 26, 2008 9:44 AM:During good economic times, there should have been a tax on SUVs, larger homes and cell phones. Maybe the gas tax should have been raised or even a tax on expensive wines or booze. The economic truth is that many people were spending their borrowed money on the wrong things and fighting against supporting infrastructure or community needs. Now some of that bill is coming due during the rough times. If California wants to continue to be the Golden Stae, you have to pay for that gold and not just self indulge.
putting the cart before the horse wrote on Oct 26, 2008 10:14 AM:Hold on to your seats - You're going to love this one:
The school board will be having a week of planning and design sessions for the new school. This will pull together architects, designers, teachers (when they should be in class), staff, and members from the community - including a heavy contigent from Palomar Pomerado Hospital (Doesn't Tina Pope work there?).
They are spending tens of thousands of dollars - if not hundreds of thousands - to spend a week designing and planning a new school. But, that new school is tied to the bond - which hasn't been voted on yet. Will it even pass?
This is fiscal irresponsibility at its worst.
Obviously, this new elite school is the centerpiece of what the district wants. It doesn't matter that the other schools are falling apart. It doesn't matter that the children need better education. As long as the board gets their shiny new building. This is their priority.
Local wrote on Oct 26, 2008 2:16 PM:I agree with opinion at 10:14. There is a pattern here. Pope, Covert, Pheiler. Bonds T and BB. They all have their heads in the clouds and their hands in our pockets. Shiny new buildings to boost their already over-inflated egos. NO on T!
Boy what a bunch wrote on Oct 26, 2008 3:26 PM:of intelligent people here!! Let's see, stock market crashing, people losing homes and jobs and some nitwits wanting the people to pay more money for teachers? I think it is time the teachers and their unions return to planet earth!
Lets see less wrote on Oct 26, 2008 3:29 PM:illegal alien students means more time for one on one with students and more money for teaching tools. Geeze maybe we can get the teachers back into elementary math. Until then NO on T!!! Or if you prefer No to TEACHERS!!!
Lying to us wrote on Oct 26, 2008 4:25 PM:We have recieved about 5 mailers from EUHSD on Prop T, all with dismal photos of the poor schools and students. The mailers claim that the money is going to upgrade the 3 existing campuses, but in reality, most of it will go to their new specialty school. They are already planning it, before the votes are even counted. How do they know the bond will pass? Everyone should vote NO on Proposition T. We are being decieved!
Bill in Escondido wrote on Oct 26, 2008 5:40 PM:Yeah, I've seen those mailers too. I own a computer IT support business. The computers pictured at San Pasqual are current model Dell Optiplex systems with the latest style of 17" LCD monitors. These go with the quote from the Business & Technology teacher "Our classrooms and labs are outdated..."
I cannot see how these are outdated.
And, as always, the flyer says it won't raise taxes (Barry Dragon has stated otherwise) and somehow it neglects to state that payments will last to 2054. How convenient!
Greg in Oceanside wrote on Oct 26, 2008 7:10 PM:I agree, many of these propositions will face tough opposition due to increasingly tighter budgets.
As a hard working taxpayer, I'm fed up with propositions that aren't affecting my life in any meaningful way and are full of waste.
What I'm concerned about most are propostions that aren't going to return much for the majority of us, for example, a bond for offender treatment programs. Rates of recidivism prove this is a waste of money. Most criminals end right back in jail/prison after they've completed a sentence for a crime. So why would we want to waste money trying to rehabilitate them? Criminals serving time in prison are pretty much past any "rehab" and have some deep issues that will never be fixed.
Our schools are chocked full of illegal aliens (or their children) and are using a disproportionate amount of resrouces. Illegal aliens are using our hospitals (and emergency rooms) as their primary source of healthcare and for delivering babies, all paid for by the taxpayer. Our prisons are overpopulated, many of whom are illegal aliens or their offspring. Our roads and other public resources and social programs are being used and drained by illegal aliens, again all paid for by the taxpayers.
So, as a taxpayer, I'm thoroughly fed up with entitlements and programs that are being consumed by those who don't deserve them, don't pay taxes, and contribute nothing to the success of this country.
Thanks Greg wrote on Oct 26, 2008 9:03 PM:No one wants to go near the issue of the reason why our schools are "overcrowded". Subtract out the children of those who are here illegally and the number of students per classroom would drop considerably. I won't vote for another school bond to pay for educating students whose parents don't pay property taxes. Paying back this bond falls totally on Escondido homeowners. NO on T!
EscoKat wrote on Oct 26, 2008 9:07 PM:How can they move ahead with the plans for the magnet school if they don't know whether the bond will pass?
Didn't they say they would upgrade the existing campuses first?
This doesn't pass the smell test.
Hmmm wrote on Oct 27, 2008 9:22 AM:Escondido declined to work with High Tech High because of cronyism on the City Council and fear of excellence.
It sure would have provided better ROI for our town.
So HTH went to San Marcos. A brain drain that's a net loss for the Hidden Valley.
If the High School board doesn't address voters' concerns about undocumented students sinking the ship - not an easy issue to tackle, admittedly - I guess many Escondido citizens would rather let public schools, one of our nation's historic accomplishments, rot...and hang the consequences for all the legal students who have no alternative ways of preparing themselves for the future. Our future.
If Prop T fails this time, then either the current HS board and senior staff ought to all resign, or they should look at every single element of the proposition and assume that a majority of voters are telling them that they ought to do the exact opposite.
- TEMECULA: Protesters line intersection (1351)
- ESCONDIDO: City's dreams of an 'upscale' downtown may be dying (1159)
- ESCONDIDO: 3 DUI arrests, 46 impounds at checkpoint (875)
- TEMECULA: Parade, fireworks draw thousands on nation's birthday (662)
- PADRES: While Manny is headliner, shortstop Cabrera steals show (532)
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