The same day that Cambria citizens presented nearly 2500 letters of protest as part of our Constitutional right to approve taxes and fees and assessments under Proposition 218, another community is feeling the effects of the law approved by voters in 1996. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the California Supreme Court “unanimously struck down a fee that Santa Clara County property owners had imposed on themselves in a 2001 vote to fund open-space acquisition and preservation. Because open-space acquisition benefits the general public and not just the assessed properties, the court said, it can’t be funded by a benefit assessment approved only by property owners. Instead, it must be submitted as a tax measure to local voters – either as a real estate assessment, which requires two-thirds voter approval, or as a sales tax increase, which needs a majority vote.”
The ruling is likely to affect Cambria’s plan to raise funds for the Build-out Reduction Plan, though just how is will all sort out is unclear at the moment. The ruling is available at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S136468.PDF
Last 5 posts by Amanda Rice
- Gail Robinette Chosen to Complete DeMicco's Term as CCSD Director on Unanimous Vote
- California Coastal Commission Unanimously Denied Army Corps Desal Tests
- Cambria CSD Agenda for November 27, 2011 Meeting Includes Water Conservation & New Tank Project
- Sunken Oil Tanker Off Cambria's Coastline Will Be Checked Again Soon
