Sneaky way to charge you more without your approval! Senate Bill 231

This bill has been lurking in the darkened halls of state government, and is a very sneaky way to get around the "Howard Jarvis Law", that prevents local governments state wide from raising your property taxes, thinks the blogger.

"It’s more than a matter of definition. It’s an attempt to evade the requirements of Proposition 218, which prevents local governments from calling taxes “fees” to get around Proposition 13’s provision that two-thirds of voters must approve tax increases.
Proposition 218 included an exception for increases to taxes, fees and assessments for trash, household water and sewer service. By redefining “sewer” to include storm water, Hertzberg’s bill would allow local governments to pay for costly storm water management projects simply by adding hundreds or thousands of dollars to property tax bills.
Taxpayers would have the opportunity for a protest vote, but unless a majority of them knew about the increases and mailed in their protests within the time limit, the charges would go into effect." (By Orange County Register PUBLISHED: April 5, 2017 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: April 6, 2017 at 12:24 am)

Well they are really trying to raise our property taxes without our 2/3 approval and without the justifying the cost to us or other justifications.

How much will it cost us, if signed by the Governor and your city starts a program to build rainwater using the current sewage system? Initial estimates vary, but home owners will see increases of $1,000 to $2,000 annually, in their property taxes - more in the Bay Area with our very high property valuations. This could force a major migration of high-tech out of Northern California.

There is also another sneaky piece of legislation:

SB231 merely attempts to override the decision by the Court of Appeal so cities can charge the cost of storm water management to taxpayers without calling it a tax, and without the approval of two-thirds of the voters.
That probably won’t stand up to a court challenge, so Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys has also introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 4, which currently contains only placeholder language. This companion bill could provide the means to override Proposition 218 — and any other constitutional protections that require municipalities to set utility rates based on the cost of service, not for raising revenue or modifying behavior. (By Orange County Register PUBLISHED: April 5, 2017 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: April 6, 2017 at 12:24 am)

Tell the Governor that you oppose Senate Bill 231 and want to preserve your ability to approve all increases to your property taxes and you oppose Senate Constitutional Amendment 4.

What Ms., Mrs. and Mr. Home Owner can do:

• Sign the WRATES Petition
• Follow this blog, sjwc-rate-increase
• Join WRATES
• Send Complaints to press, media representatives
• Send complaints to the Governor, your State Senator and Assembly Representative.  Governor Jerry Brown - https://govnews.gov.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php
  County of Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian - supervisor.simitian@bos.sccgov.org
  Evan Low, Assemblymember District 28 - http://asmdc.org/members/a28/contact/contact-evan 
  Senator Jim Beall - http://sd15.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail 
  Congresswoman Anna Eshoo - https://eshoo.house.gov/contact/

 Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the US

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