When they cast their ballots in the September 14 gubernatorial recall election, voters in three counties also will decide the fate of two local tax measures.

测量T, a parcel tax to fund a fire district that serves Nevada and Placer counties, proposes an annual tax of $179 per parcel. The tax, which requires a two-thirds vote for passage, would provide $3.7 million annually to the Truckee Fire Protection District to fund wildfire protection services. 这项税收将在8年后取消.

The special election for 测量T originally was scheduled as an all-mail election that would conclude August 31, but was consolidated with the recall election once the date of the recall was decided.

The Truckee Fire Protection District has produced several campaign-style “informational mailers” that describe the tax as the “Wildfire Protection Measure” and encourage voters to support the 测量T without directly including a “vote yes” message.

In the city of Lompoc (Santa Barbara County), voters will decide the fate of Measure Q, which would increase a cannabis tax passed in 2018. The tax on cannabis manufacturing and distribution – currently an annual flat tax of $15,000 if net income is less than $2 million, or $30,000 if net income is greater – would be replaced with varying rates on manufacturing and distribution operations, 从0开始.5 cents per dollar for $10 million or less in total revenue, up to 2.5 cents per dollar for $55 million or more in total revenue.

Measure Q, which requires a majority vote for approval, would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.2 million per year, with the revenue going to the city’s general fund.

Lompoc used city funds to produce a Measure Q video featuring Mayor Jenelle Osborne in which she describes the tax as a “fee.”

“This ballot measure is for you, the Lompoc voters,” Osborne says in the video. “It would only change the current cannabis tax structure for cannabis manufacturing and distribution 企业. Lompoc currently charges all manufacturers and distributors a flat fee. If Measure Q passes, Lompoc would charge an income-based percentage that will not exceed 2.5%. This is one of the lowest fees in our region.”

The video includes text that largely mirrors Osborne’s voiceover, but when Osborne describes the “income-based percentage,” the text more accurately states that it would be an “income-based tax.”

The original cannabis tax, Measure D of 2018, passed with 75.69 percent of the vote and was estimated to generate $130,000 to $470,000 per year in revenue.

其他地方税务新闻:

Sacramento Considering Storm Water Fee Increase. The Sacramento City Council is considering a ballot measure that would increase the storm water system fee paid by property owners.

萨克拉门托蜜蜂 报道 that the proposal would increase the fee for most single-family homeowners from approximately $135 to $205 per year, based on the size of impervious surfaces. The increase would cost property owners approximately $20 million per year, 根据城市估计.

The revenue would be used to repair, 维护, and improve the city’s storm water system, 市政府官员说.

The city used tax dollars to create a 网页 that promotes the water rate increase, but does not mention any negative affects that the additional costs would have on Sacramento residents.

继续保护清洁, 当地的水, the City of Sacramento is considering a potential ballot measure to fund repairs, maintenance and improvements to its aging stormwater system, 保护家园, 企业, 当地河流和水源,网页上写道..

市政府支付了48美元,250 to poll residential property owners about the increase, and 报道 that 54 percent of those polled expressed support (32 percent said definitely yes, 17%的人说可能会, 6%的人犹豫不决, 但靠是的).

“Political consultant Steven Maviglio received one of those calls, and found the questions to be one-sided,” 蜜蜂 报道. “’It was a definite lopsided poll designed to get the results they wanted to hear,Maviglio说. ‘Clearly they have a political agenda … and they’re using tax dollars to do it.’ … ‘In a unbiased independent poll, the appetite for a tax increase right now is nonexistent,Maviglio说. ‘Even in a progressive city, enough is enough.’”

The City Council could consider the proposal January, and ballots could be mailed to property owners within a matter of weeks after the council’s approval, 市政府官员说. “The question would not be included on the ballot for the June 2022 local election,” 蜜蜂 报道. (来源: 萨克拉门托蜜蜂, 9月2日.)