Voters Agree With Taxpayers Association Recommendations on 15 Ballot Measures
SAN DIEGO (November 7, 2018)—The results of Tuesday’s midterm elections show that voters agreed with the San Diego County Taxpayers Association on 15 ballot measures. In September, SDCTA released a comprehensive voter guide with positions on six state and local ballot measures, as well as recommendations for how to vote on the ten school bonds up for consideration.
“Our goal is to serve as a nonpartisan source of information for voters every election, so they can make an educated decision at the polls,” said SDCTA president and CEO Haney Hong. “SDCTA takes our role as watchdog and educational resource seriously, and we are encouraged to see that San Diego area voters agreed with us on so many of the issues.”
The Taxpayers Association took was watching the following issues closely.
Proposition 10 (statewide) and Measure W (National City)
“The Taxpayers Association has always maintained that rent control is not a solution to California’s housing crisis, and we’re glad that voters statewide have agreed,” said Hong. “We want a fiscally responsible solution that will get more people into homes they can afford. The answer is building more housing. We look forward to working with San Diego area leaders and serving as a resource for crafting policy that encourages such development.”
Mission Valley Stadium Site
“While Measure E would have had a greater net positive fiscal impact for the City of San Diego, Measure G will still be an overall benefit to the city’s General Fund,” said Hong. “We did not take a position on Measure E v. Measure G because our side-by-side comparison of the two showed that both had equal merit, based on what voters were willing to trade off.
“The most expensive choice, however, would have been inaction—if neither measure had won, the city would likely have lost another $12 million next year. We are glad to see that voters made the fiscally responsible choice to advance one of the two proposals, and hope to see the land developed effectively as promised.”
Measure C
“We are pleased to see that voters have chosen to codify, in law, that funds meant to stabilize pension debt can’t be used for any other purpose,” said Hong. “San Diego County has a long history of issues with unfunded pension liabilities, accruing too much debt trying to pay for public servants’ pensions. However, the County has come a long way recently in terms of fiscal responsibility. Measure C ensures that the funds the County has set aside to stabilize this debt can’t be misused by any future elected official, and that aligns with our mission to its very core.”
School Bonds
“Education is vital to our communities, and as such the Taxpayers Association supports school bonds that make intelligent, effective use of public funds,” said Hong. “We supported 8 school bonds on the ballot this year, opposed two and remained neutral on one. Voters agreed with us on all the bonds we supported.
“Unfortunately, San Diego Unified’s bond was an example of one that we could not support due to poor fiscal management. With this bond, SDUSD has asked taxpayers to pay for projects that were supposed to have been covered by two previous bonds. City of San Diego residents will now see the effects on their property tax bill.”
Contact: Sarah Flocken
240.630.0316 | sflocken@sdcta.org