The gross misuse of taxpayer money draws needed attention – Press Enterprise

Was Governor Newsom wondering what he was doing as he stared at the barrel of the pending recall, or at least reducing the likelihood of a ricochet?

Probably not. It seems that the governor really does believe the recall is a “card-inspired” attack on what he calls “California’s values”. Judging by his records, the values ​​he values ​​are high taxes, high cost of living, high poverty rates, high unemployment rates, severe water shortages that require compulsory rations, and hot days and winds. It’s a regular blackout on a busy day.

In reality, the anger sits deep in California and among the roughly 6 million citizens who voted for Donald Trump. A recent poll found that 54% of Hispanic voters were in favor of the recall.

It must have shocked the governor and messed up his campaign team’s “cancel vote” strategy. “Hello” they must have thought.

In this governor, and indeed on the long list of taxpayers’ dissatisfaction with the entire state, there are big missed opportunities that may or may not have been made during the pandemic year. For example, the governor made credit for a budget surplus of $ 70 billion in his calculations. (The legislative analyst bureau checked its calculations, pointing out that the surplus was only $ 35 billion, but it’s still a large number). Unfortunately, those tens of billions of dollars are messed up.

Newsom played Santa Claus or the boss of the Chicago Ward and threw a new stimulating check for $ 600 for a large part of the population. We are fundamentally in favor of returning excess tax dollars to taxpayers, but it was not about tax refunds. These were one-off payments to income-qualified individuals that were sent out very shortly before the ballot papers were sent out. That little political stimulus swallowed up $ 8 billion.

And when it comes to flooding, it was taxpayers on water storage projects. In 2014, California voters approved proposal 1. This is a $ 7.5 billion bond that has pre-approved $ 2.7 billion for an undeveloped water storage project. The California Water Commission decided in July 2018 to qualify for funding for seven projects and the paperwork is ongoing. The first system is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.

Governor Newsom has announced that mandatory water restrictions will soon be enforced instead of using the budget surplus and its administration to promote water storage projects.

Governor Newsom also invested $ 12 billion in expanding his homeless policy. He calls it success, but many Californians consider it a disaster. A recent poll found that 60% of voters in the state were against the governor’s treatment of the homelessness problem.

As reported in the newspaper, recent research shows that tax burdens and regulation are the two main reasons people are emigrating from the state. There is also a general belief that California is not using its taxes efficiently. This recognition is correct.

An analysis published by WalletHub in March reveals something that doesn’t surprise many Californians. California ranks 49th out of 50 states for return on investment (ROI) of taxes paid by citizens. It’s one thing if we got the tax’s value, but frankly we aren’t. Golden State has the highest income tax rate in the United States and the highest state sales and gas taxes. Despite all of this revenue, government policies on homelessness, water infrastructure, transportation, and crime were worthless at best and counterproductive at worst.

Many municipalities, especially large cities, fail to offer excellent service at fair prices.

They often complained of poverty and claimed the pandemic had significantly reduced their incomes, but California accountants shattered the controversy in a report released last week. The title is very clear. Indeed, the revenue flows. “

The report shows an explosion in local government revenues from hotel taxes, business taxes and sales taxes. And property tax? The auditor also said on Proposal 13: Economic forecasts show that cities in California will receive an additional property tax of over 2.3 billion US dollars between fiscal years 2019-20 and 2021-22. “

One bright spot is that the terrible abuse and mismanagement of taxes has received a lot of attention from the media and government regulators. Voters can get there first thanks to dialing.

Jon Coupal is President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association.

Gross abuse of taxpayers ‘money attracts the necessary attention – Press Enterprise Source link Gross misuse of taxpayers’ money attracts the necessary attention – Press Enterprise