Three weeks ago, Santa Clara County voters approved Measure A, increasing the county’s sales tax by five-eighths of one percent. The increase will push the total sales tax above ten percent in many cities in the county, including San Jose.
Supporters of Measure A, the Board of Supervisors among them, claimed that the proceeds would be used mostly to bail out the county’s failing public hospital system. However, according to the San Jose Spotlight, other interests supported by county funds endorsed the tax after being told that they would receive a portion of the revenue.
But last week, County Executive James Williams told the news organization he would recommend the Board of Supervisors put all Measure A dollars toward offsetting federal health care cuts. When word got out regarding the County Executive’s recommendation, the other interests who were told they would get a slice of the pie were not happy, especially Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen. Rosen said he is now considering investigating whether voters were “deliberately misled” about how the revenue from the Measure A sales tax increase would be used.
During the campaign over Measure A, opponents tried their best to warn voters that this was a general tax increase, not a special tax intended for specific purposes. Moreover, the ballot language crafted by the county was so deceptive that the county lost a lawsuit challenging the description. Despite this, the county and its well-funded allies overwhelmed opponents with a multi-million dollar campaign.
Measure A was just the most recent example of a “general” tax increase proposal being dressed up to look like a “special” tax for whatever public service is popular at the moment. The sole purpose of this ploy is to avoid the two-thirds vote threshold required for taxes legally bound to be used for a specific purpose.
Regrettably, misrepresentations by government and special interests that feed on tax dollars like this have a long history in California. For example, Californians were promised in 2014 that Proposition 1, a $7.5 billion water bond, would quickly go to construct large water storage facilities, including the Sites Reservoir. But the project is still in the planning, permitting, and contractor selection phases, with construction now targeted to begin by the end of 2026.
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And who can forget the granddaddy of all “bait and switch” ballot measures, the infamous High Speed Rail project. What began as a $10 billion bond measure to fund a rail project that would travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco has morphed into America’s most embarrassing boondoggle costing hundreds of billions of dollars. As far back as 2008, a Reason Foundation study predicted “The CHSRA [California High-Speed Rail Authority] plans as currently proposed are likely to have very little relationship to what would eventually be built due to questionable ridership projections and cost assumptions . . .”
Finally, although not a ballot measure, citizens should understand the extent to which our political leaders will deceive us to obtain what they want. Jonathan Gruber, an MIT professor and a key architect of Obamacare, inadvertently revealed how Americans were deceived. In a 2013 video, Gruber said, “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really critical to getting the thing to pass.”
Relying on deception, lies, and the presumed stupidity of citizens is an affront to core democratic values. Perhaps it’s time to remind political elites who they work for.
Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.