
DEFENDING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE ON TAXES
At the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, we receive thousands of calls each year from taxpayers with questions and concerns. Of all those, about two dozen stand out because they are complaints that HJTA is responsible for raising their taxes. The callers tell us that a local government agency wants to impose an assessment on their property and they have received notice and a mail in ballot. When they called the officials responsible for the assessment, they have been told “it is Jarvis’ fault because they passed Proposition 218.”
Now this may not be a whopper of the magnitude of “If you like your policy, you can keep it,” but it is almost as misleading. Here is what is going on.
Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, placed on the ballot by HJTA and approved by the voters in 1996, requires that those who are to be assessed be sent notice by mail and provided a ballot so they can cast a protest vote. So, to the extent that the homeowner is being informed and being sent a ballot, this much is HJTA’s fault. The government agency is still completely responsible for efforts to impose an assessment.
Assessment districts in California… Read More