In 2022, the Livermore Valley Common Unified School District’s Measure G ballot, which did not receive the required 55% approval, was intended to disguise the cost to property owners.
Every two years, local officials use the ballot to commit one of California’s biggest consumer frauds.
Instead of preventing this repeated concealment of borrowing costs, the legislators of the countries are trying to make it possible again. Gov. Gavin Newsom used a veto in 2019 to block lawmakers. That hasn’t stopped the main contributor, Sen. Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco, from trying again this year.
It’s about transparency for billions of dollars in borrowing measures presented to constituents by school, city, county and transit borough leaders. The money is to be used for capital improvements such as new schools, offices, roads or S-Bahn cars.
Many voters don’t understand that bonds are a form of borrowing, which means these measures also require tax hikes, usually increases in property taxes, to pay off the loans.
Payments are typically hundreds of dollars a year for homeowners and more for larger commercial properties. The charges last three or four decades. It’s like committing to making part of the payments on a mortgage. Landlords often pass the cost on to tenants, so tenants feel the pain too.
The cost is what local government officials want to hide. They know that if they don’t know the price tags, more voters are likely to back the measures. Although state law requires the ballot to include the cost, officials, led by campaign advisers and mischievous prosecutors, have devised wording to cover up.
What we need are stricter transparency laws. Instead, local officials are whining that they can’t find a way to include the cost in the 75-word election summary that most voters rely on. As we have repeatedly said and demonstrated, this claim is utter nonsense.
We have provided wording suggestions – and are doing so again today – to show that within the 75-word limit, officials can describe the benefits of their actions, make it clear that they are tax increases, and summarize the amount of the tax in an understandable way.
Despite this, Weiner pushed through legislation in 2019 that would have removed the requirement for the ballot to include the cost to taxpayers. Instead, the wording would simply read: “See voter guide for action information statement.”
Weiner and the unions and local officials who supported his 2019 effort know that most voters with a long list of measures and candidate races on their ballots are unlikely to get past the ballot. Supporters of the 2019 effort just want voters to know about the good stuff the money would buy, not the cost of the loan involved.
In his veto message, Newsom said he was concerned the bill would “reduce transparency for local tax and bond measures.” So is Weiner’s latest attempt, SB 532, which would do the same.
The legislature should no longer allow this deception. And Newsom, who deserves credit for his veto in 2019, should be poised to do the same this year.
Transparency is not difficult
Local officials claim the 75-word ballot limit for summarizing measures prevents them from clearly explaining the taxpayer’s cost to voters. It’s not very difficult. Instead, the officials prefer to cover up. Here is an example from 2022.
What Livermore School District Measure G said:
Modernize aging classrooms, laboratories and vocational training facilities to meet safety/educational standards and support science, technology, engineering and math education; repair leaky roofs/deteriorated plumbing/electrical/heating/cooling systems; keep instructional technology up to date; and to improve safety/fire/earthquake safety, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District’s action to issue $450,000,000 in bonds at statutory interest rates, approximately 6¢ per $100 appraised value, while the bonds are outstanding ( $30,000,000 per year), with independent oversight, audits, and no funds being passed for administrator salaries?
What it could have said:
Modernize aging classrooms, laboratories and professional training facilities to meet safety and instructional standards; repair leaky roofs and deteriorating plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems; update technology and improve safety, fire and earthquake protection, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District is to issue $450,000,000 in bonds, provide independent oversight and auditing of spending, and encourage property owners by fiscal year 2056- Tax 7 at an average rate of $60 per $100,000 ?
