Remember last year when I called on the DMV to stop overcharging taxes on private party car sales? In case you don’t, here’s the letter I wrote to the DMV.

Under a new contract with Department of Motor Vehicle, the Board of Equalization will now have more oversight of motor vehicle use tax collection.

The new contract helps DMV counter staff to determine the correct rate for car buyers who live in zip codes with more than one tax rate. The agreement also creates a pilot program to explore and evaluate alternative methods to reduce reliance on five digit zip codes used to determine tax jurisdiction.

An internal review found that the DMV had used zip codes to charge taxes, even though zip codes are often split between cities and counties that employ different tax rates.

There were roughly 7,000 cases where taxpayers had been overcharged by the DMV. The Board will refund these overcharges to… Read More

Labor unions are still running the show in the Democratically-controlled California Legislature. Despite hearing from more than 50 farmworkers on Wednesday, the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee denied the farmworkers the right to vote on their own labor negotiated contacts, even though this right is enjoyed by other union members in California.

Assemblyman Jim Patterson and Assemblywoman Shannon Grove presented… Read More

‘Transparency’ is probably the most overused word in political speech, while at the same time, the most underutilized in practice.In a free society, transparency in government means openness, accountability, and honesty. It is the obligation of government to share information with citizens, yet is increasingly difficult to access – even in California, home to Silicon Valley.

Without transparency, citizens are unable to hold public officials accountable. And that’s the problem –government is responsible for making itself available to be accountable. It’s unnatural. While the true statesman values principle above popularity, today’s era of politics in California doesn’t breed an abundance of statesmen.

However, one of the good guys – a real statesman – former State Sen. Sam Blakeslee, has tackled the problem of transparency in politics. The Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, under the leadership of Blakeslee, officially launched the Digital Democracy Project, to provide a searchable database of all legislative hearings. “This package… Read More

It must be silly season in Sacramento. As the state receives billions in unanticipated revenues, liberal tax-and-spend lawmakers are proposing massive tax hikes, proving once again that they are out of touch.

One key measure of reality ignored by liberal lawmakers is Tax Freedom Day. Calculated annually by the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day is the day Americans have earned enough money to pay their annual tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels.

This year, National Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 24, but Californians didn’t achieve tax freedom until May 3. California’s Tax Freedom Day is the fourth latest in the nation. Only Connecticut, New Jersey and New York have later dates.

By proposing higher taxes, liberal legislators are trying to make taxpayers work even longer to pay their tax bills.

The other reality ignored by would-be tax hikers is that due to the state’s volatile tax structure, a booming tech sector and soaring stock market, state officials are now swimming in cash.

In the critical month of April, state income tax revenues exceeded projections by $1.8 billion.

Just how much money is that? If state… Read More

Imagine walking in to pay for your morning coffee and you reach into your wallet to grab your normal $2.35. All of a sudden the barista informs you, “excuse me but we have a pay twice special and you will have to pay twice for that coffee.” Your reaction would probably be that of dismay, bewilderment and anger; followed by a quick and empty handed departure from the coffee shop.

Now imagine if the Government mandated you to buy a cup of coffee every day and if you didn’t pay for it you would be penalized. This scenario is exactly what employers in the construction field are faced with when they… Read More

“Alright, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” – John Cleese, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 1979

Any discussion of California’s neglected infrastructure has to recognize the three factors most responsible, libertarians, environmentalists, and government unions. Picking libertarians as the first example is not by accident, because libertarians are perhaps the most unwitting participants in the squelching of public infrastructure investment. By resisting government involvement in any massive public works project, libertarians provide cover to public sector unions who know that public works fundingcompetes for tax revenues with their own pay and benefits.

When it comes to squelching public infrastructure investment, however, nobody can compete with California’s environmentalist lobby. Their lawsuitshave stalled infrastructure development for decades. And the identity of interests between government unions and environmentalists is multi-faceted. The most obvious is that when there is no… Read More

Subtitle: The Fleecing of Sacramento’s Taxpayers

Sacramento’s City Manager John Shirey released the proposed 2015/2016 budget last week. It’s clear that this city manager, the mayor, and the city council members are cavalier with their spending of other people’s money.More is never enough. And the word “austerity” is not in their vocabularies.

The other important issue to note is even with his latest attempt to become a strong mayor squashed (again) by the voters last year, Mayor Kevin Johnson is the driving force anyway behind this… Read More

As part of an ongoing effort to help those who struggle to keep a roof​ over their heads, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed an​ initiative that would increase the homeowners exemption and the​ renters tax credit.This is the first step in qualifying the initiative, the​ California Homeowners and Renters Tax Relief Act of 2016, for the​ ballot.The Office of the Attorney General has about 60 days to provide​ a​ title and summary so that signature gathering can begin.

Only about one-third of Californians can afford to realize the American​ dream of owning their own home. The homeowners’ property tax​ exemption of $7,000 (worth a $70 deduction on your property taxes)​ has not been increased since 1972 when the median priced home sold​ for $28,660​. Currently, an average home is selling for nearly ten (10)​ times that amount, and yet the homeowners’ exemption remains​ unchanged. Increasing the homeowners’ property tax exemption from $7,000 to​ $32,000 will save every homeowner in California an additional $250 per​ year.​ This will help to mitigate the heavy financial burden placed on​ homeowners from… Read More