The Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13 moved a step closer to the ballot in February when the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, together with our allies in a strong coalition of business and taxpayer groups, turned in more than 1.3 million signatures to the 58 county elections offices.
“It’s an achievement that could not have been accomplished without our great Members,” said HJTA President Jon Coupal. “Your support made it possible for HJTA to write the initiative and lead the effort to collect the needed signatures within a very limited time period. I couldn’t be more proud of our Members and our organization.”
The next step is the counting and verification of signatures by county officials, who will report the total to the Secretary of State. The exact number of valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot is 874,641, but before all signatures are verified, a random sample is checked for validity and a projected total is calculated. If the projected number of valid signatures is 110% of the total needed (962,106), the measure is eligible for the ballot at that point and no further signature verification takes place.
A proposition number for the November ballot would be assigned sometime after June 25. Ballots for the November 3 election mail out in early October.
That calendar means HJTA will have only 3–4 months to reach every registered voter in the state with our message to Save Prop. 13.
The Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13 will reinstate taxpayer protections that Prop. 13 wrote into the state constitution but courts have been weakening or erasing altogether. Specifically, it will:
- Restore Proposition 13’s total ban on real estate transfer taxes (sales taxes on property) higher than 0.11%, and repeal (in two years) all existing transfer taxes above that level
- Restore Proposition 13’s requirement that all local special taxes must be approved by two-thirds of voters, no exceptions for “citizens’ initiative tax increases”
“I believe the success of the Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13 will send a strong message to politicians, special interests and the courts,” said Jon Coupal, “that the taxpayer protections voters have placed in their constitution may not be disregarded.”
ABOVE: Claire Kaufman and Debra Desrosiers review signed petitions mailed to HJTA’s Sacramento office.