By Debra Desrosiers
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is proud to name Thomas A. Rubin, founder of 20 BILLION Reasons, as the 2024 Taxfighter of the Year. His grassroots team went up against the government money machine and was successful in having an enormous housing bond removed from the 2024 ballot.
Regional Measure 4 (RM4) was a $20 billion dollar bond that would have been repaid with $48.3 billion in new property taxes over decades, costing individual homeowners in nine Bay Area counties thousands of dollars in higher property taxes. Tom and the team at 20 BILLION Reasons were able to show a mathematical error in the ballot materials that significantly understated the cost of the measure. Following that revelation, and amid dismal poll numbers, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) board pulled RM4 off the 2024 ballot. It was a major win for taxpayers.
Tom started 20 BILLION Reasons as a single-issue committee in 2024. It has now evolved into a general purpose committee named SHIFT — an acronym for Sustainability in Housing, Infrastructure, Financing and Transportation. Tom told HJTA that SHIFT is “gearing up for the ever-constant government pushes for new, more, and higher taxes for wasteful government programs and projects.”
Tom is Vice President of the Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association and serves on the board of directors of the California Association of Bond Oversight Committees. He has been a long-time community watchdog for taxpayers and responsible government, with a background as an auditor and consultant specializing in government transportation. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Government Financial Manager and holds a certification in Financial Management.
Upon being notified of his award nomination, Tom said, “This was a team effort. We had a great team, and without the assistance from Howard Jarvis this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
The Taxfighter of the Year Award is presented annually to honor an individual or group that shows exceptional dedication to protecting taxpayers. This often includes the contribution of a great deal of personal time and energy. Howard Jarvis said the successful passage of Proposition 13 could be summed up in three words: “and then some.”