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Measure B - San Jose Sales Tax
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Election Date: June 7, 2016
San Jose City Sales Tax: Argument Against Measure B
Budgets reflect priorities, especially with expenditures.
What’s in the budget is a priority.
What is NOT in the budget is NOT a priority.
That means that the projects the San Jose City Council wants to fund (police, fire, road improvements) with new taxes are NOT a priority because they’re not in the current budget.
If it’s NOT a priority for the City Council, why should the voters of San Jose support any new taxes? Answer: they shouldn’t.
The streets of San Jose are terrible. If the San Jose City Council thinks they are a priority, then why is road maintenance under-funded?
Because they don’t consider roads a priority. Do you agree?
The City Council says we need to hire more police to be fully staffed. Again, if money for new police isn’t in the current budget, that means that everything currently in the budget is higher priority than a fully staffed police department is. Do you agree?
What does the City Council think is more important than police, fire, and roads?
Answer: Three golf courses, a luxury hotel, the Mexican Heritage Plaza, and millions to subsidize art groups that go bankrupt. Do you agree?
Remember, sales taxes are regressive: they most hurt the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, and those on fixed incomes.
Furthermore, high sales taxes drive consumers to shop the Internet to avoid sales taxes, hurting local businesses, and local jobs.
One final thought: the levels of taxes we pay are either:
- 1. too high
- 2. about right
- 3. too low
If you think taxes are too low, by all means, raise them. But, if you think taxes are about right or too high, you should oppose this sales tax increase, and
Vote NO on Measure B.
For more information, please visit:
www.SVTaxpayers.org/2016-san-jose-sales-tax
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San Jose City Sales Tax: Rebuttal to the Argument in Favor of Measure _B_
The argument in favor of this blank check tax increase says that it will be spent on police and roads. However, there is no legal guarantee whatsoever.
Let’s repeat that: there is no legal commitment to spend your tax dollars on core city services. Your tax dollars can actually be spent on any whim at each weekly city council meeting.
For example the City of San Jose created a brand new program called Office of Immigration Affairs. This new program staffed by city employees provides service to undocumented residents and their families. Whatever your opinion is on immigration, we can all agree this is a federal responsibility, not a city responsibility, such as road maintenance and providing police protection.
Tax dollars should be spent on core services like police and roads and not on new programs that the city has never offered and are not in the city charter.
Vote no on measure B and have the city council bring back a tax that is 100% legally dedicated to pay for police and roads.
The city continues to spend millions of your tax dollars every year to subsidize three golf courses, a luxury hotel, Mexican Heritage Plaza, and million dollar bailouts for art groups that go bankrupt.
Vote NO on a tax that has zero restrictions which can and will be spent on anything. Vote no to tell them police and roads are a priority.
For more information, please visit our website:
www.SVTaxpayers.org/2016-san-jose-sales-tax